Best Books for IIAD IDAT 2025 Preparation - Check Here

IIAD 2026 Exam Syllabus and Books

Students should know the IIAD 2026 syllabus of the test beforehand to have better preparation strategies for each of the topics in the exam. Understanding the test syllabus not only prepares students but also makes them understand their strengths and weaknesses for different types of questions and therefore help them for preparation strategy for IIAD dat exam 2026 and with better time management.

For the ease of students, the syllabus is divided into sections and then topics under each section are explained with books and resources where they can refer and study from. This further helps students to figure their strong and weak areas and then create a study plan accordingly. Students can refer to IIAD question papers to understand the exam structure.

Section A: Creative and Visual Ability

Creative Ability includes following topics:

• Conceptualization: This includes the skills for coming up with creative ideas and turning them into feasible designs. This also includes the ability to visualize and sketch concepts that will help the concept to be better understood by the audience.

• Idea and Innovation: The ability to come up with new and innovative ideas or solutions for a given problem statement. This also includes thinking outside the box and generating new innovative concepts that are different and more effective than already existing ideas.

• Problem-Solving: Creative ability also involves testing students on their imagination to solve problems in unique solutions. This includes the ability to see connections between concepts and coming up with effective solutions.

Books and resources for Section A preparation:

• Universal Principles of Design By William Lidwell

Universal Principles of Design is a multi-disciplinary design book which deals with the different rules and approaches in the field of design. This book is a guide to different design principles that can be used and applied by designers from different fields such as graphic design, architecture, product design, and more. For designers to create user-centered, functional, and aesthetically appealing designs, this book is a great reference.

• The Design of Everyday Things By Donald A. Norman

The Design of Everyday Things is one of the most popular and important books for any designer as it deals with human-centered design and human psychology to create products with not only great functionality but also user friendly.

• Cracking the Creativity Code: Zoom in/Zoom out/Zoom in Framework for Creativity, Fun, and Success By Arie Ruttenberg

This book offers a framework-based approach to developing and unlocking creativity. The Zoom in/Zoom out/Zoom in method, which is intended to promote creative problem-solving and inventive thinking in both personal and professional contexts, is introduced in the book. This book highlights how crucial this cycle process is to striking a balance between in-depth research and long-term planning. Individuals and groups can improve their creative thinking, come up with novel solutions, and succeed more by switching between different points of view.

• Problem Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People by Ken Watanabe

This book is a great resource for aspiring students to strengthen their creative abilities.The book provides a systematic and creative approach to problem-solving, utilizing real-world examples, illustrations, and diagrams.

• Creative Thinking: Finding Solutions Out of the Box by Paul Bailey

This book is a great resource for students to sharpen their creative thinking skills and problem solving ability. This book offers a lot of brainstorming and mapping activities to enhance their creativity for everyday problems.

Visual Ability includes following topics:

• Spatial Visual Ability: The ability to understand and manipulate shapes, patterns, and forms in 2D and 3D spaces. This is crucial for tasks such as interpreting 2D shapes in 3D figures or imagining how a design would look from different angles.

• Visual Sensibility: This is used to judge students on their ability to judge and create designs that are visually appealing. This involves understanding principles of design, compositions, color theory and visual characteristics.

• Details: The ability to notice closely differences in shapes, colors, and patterns. This also includes being able to observe inconsistencies in designs.

Books and resources for preparation:

• Analytical Geometry 2D and 3D By P. R. VITTAL

The book is primarily designed for undergraduate students to help them understand the principles of 2D and 3D geometry. The book deals with the practical as well as mathematical aspects of 2D and 3D geometry with an approach of developing an understanding through various examples. This book is good for getting foundation knowledge for geometry.

• Concept of 3D Geometry by Ashish Vidhyarthi & D. K. Dixit

This book deals with the basic 3D geometries and the equations related to them, making the complex 3D objects into simplified and easy to understand for aspiring students.

Section B: Cultural Awareness

Cultural awareness judges a student's ability to sensitivity towards cultural knowledge and diversity. This concept is also crucial for ensuring that designs created are inclusive and effective across different cultural contexts. Topics that are most likely to be asked for the IIAD dat exam are art movements, different paintings and their history, current affairs, brand logos, fashion industry, textile industry, design symbols, politics, music and dance forms and sports. To prepare for cultural awareness students can follow certain tips;

1. Start with including reading and watching daily news and news articles. Note down in bullets the important points such as name of people, dates and place for the important news for the day and revise once in the week all the collected important affairs noted down.

2. Solve previous years papers and understand the language of the paper with the number of questions and type of questions asked for the GK section.

3. Try solving mock test papers and figure out your weaknesses and strengths and start preparing for them.

Books and resources for Section B preparation:

• Indian Art and Culture By Nitin Singhania

Indian Art and Culture is a book with rich knowledge on India’s varied art and culture. This book comprises different important topics including Indian architecture, sculpture, paintings, music, dance forms, theater, and cinema. This book has an exam-oriented approach with rich illustrations, and practice questions and is ideal for preparation of competitive exams.

• Arihant General Knowledge with Manorama year book

This book is a great source for general knowledge and essential data and facts on various topics on Indian history, culture, art, politics, sports, science and technology, etc.

• Indian Art And Culture by Arihant

The different aspects of Indian heritage and culture, including art and culture, are explored in this book on Indian art and culture. This book comprises clear presentation, visual aids, and practice questions for aspiring students to prepare.

Section C: Logical Reasoning

Logical reasoning refers to the ability of students to systematically thinking and solving problems, make decisions and then come up with effective conclusions. This also includes Verbal reasoning which is the ability for students to understand, interpret, and logically analyze written information. This section is used to judge students' critical thinking, pattern recognition and analytical reasoning skills.

Books and resources for Section C preparation:

• A Modern Approach to Verbal & non-verbal Reasoning By R.S. Aggarwal

This book is one of the most popular and most helpful for the preparation of verbal and non-verbal reasoning sections when preparing for any competitive examination. This book consists of a wide range of problems and solutions for students to prepare with proper explanations. This book is one of the best sources to prepare for logical and analytical reasoning.

• Shortcuts in Reasoning By Disha Experts

Shortcuts in Reasoning is a book that deals with reasoning questions effectively and quickly and is a great resource for students preparing for competitive exams. This book also involves tips and tricks for better preparation for quick solution and time- management in the exams.

• NCERT Books

One of the best ways to prepare for basic science and mathematics is to brush up our NCERT 10th standard books and solve the questions from each chapter. Students can solve previous years papers to get a better understanding of what topics have more weightage in the examination.

• Quantitative Aptitude by RS Aggarwal

The book encompasses a wide range of quantitative problem and solution examples and offers a solid foundation in fundamental mathematical concepts and a vast array of quantitative topics.

Drawing Section of IIAD 2026

Books and resources for preparation:

• Drawing: A Complete Guide by Giovanni Civardi

This book is a comprehensive guide aimed at helping both beginners and more experienced artists improve their drawing skills. The book also offers a comprehensive foundation in drawing principles by covering a wide range of subjects and approaches.

• Master of Anatomy - Character Design Masterclass

This book is a comprehensive reference on character design and drawing that places a special emphasis on anatomical accuracy. Artists and designers who wish to create lively, well-proportioned, and convincing characters are the target audience for this book.

• Lorenzo - How to Think When you Draw books

Lorenzo Mattotti’s "How to Think When You Draw" is a collection of books that helps students to gather insights into the creative and conceptual processes for drawing. This book also focuses on developing a deeper understanding of drawing beyond technical skills.

Part B - IDAT Studio Simulation

The second part of the IIAD DAT is Studio Simulation that takes place after the written examination (Part A). Studio Simulation includes personal interaction sessions conducted in small groups, simulating a design studio experience. Candidates are expected to exhibit their creative thinking, teamwork, articulation and problem solving abilities. The session is conducted in a studio environment of approximately 2 hours duration.

In studio simulation, students are required to show their conversational skills, and ability to work with teammates with IIAD dat entrance exam 2026 preparation. Students aspiring for IIAD need to be able to present their ideas and be interactive for studio experience. Part B is conducted to check student’s ability on how well they can work in groups and what qualities they hold while creating a solution for a problem given while working with other people simultaneously.