How to Improve Sketching and Story boarding Skills for UCEED 2026

In design entrance examinations like NID, UCEED, and NIFT a high probability of selection lies on the “Visual Communication Skills” , which include the sketching skills and Storyboarding skills. These are fundamental abilities for demonstrating your design aptitude skills and visual prowess. UCEED 2026 will tentatively be conducted in January, 2026. This article would serve as an effective outline for UCEED exam candidates as the UCEED drawing section has become very important in recent years.

This Story also Contains

1. Understanding Sketching for UCEED 2026
2. Tips and tricks for UCEED 2026 Drawing section
3. Understanding Storyboarding in UCEED Exam 2026
4. Common Sketching Challenges in 2026 UCEED Exam

Understanding Sketching for UCEED 2026

Sketching is a designer’s first language, rapidly translating thoughts into tangible ideas, for showcasing the creative thinking. Sketching is a strong medium to communicate your creative potential, clarity and visualising the concepts. As part of your UCEED preparation 2026 improving your sketching skills is essential to performing well in the exam.

Tips for Improving Sketching Skills

• Work on Line Quality: Develop a habit of sitting for long hours for sketching, with confidence. It is advised to use the arm, not just the wrist for confident strokes.
  Try exercising the continuous line, ellipses and straight lines on old newspapers exploring each 2D shape with different scales.
  
  E.g. Try sketching the concentric circles on a newspaper through the arm, to vary the scale and understand the reference points.

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• Master Perspective Drawing: Perspective sketching is a technical skillset with focus on the 1-Point, 2-Point and 3-point perspective to accurately represent the objects and environments in a 3D and translate the same on a 2D-plane (paper)

*Perspective drawing is vital for depicting the drawings with depth.

• Practise Basic Forms and Construction Techniques: Learn to break the complex objects into basic geometric shapes, like cubes, cylinders and spheres etc. Explore different angles for sketching the volumes and chunk the structures.

• Human Figures and Proportions: In UCEED Sketching Human Figures and Interaction play a substantial role for adding the usability and integrating the naturality in your scenes.

Work on the basics of “Human-Anatomy, Postures, Walk and Run cycle”. The mentioned topics have frequently been asked in the various DAT Exams

• Practise Composition and Layout: Composition is a mindful arrangement of the elements (e.g. fruits in a plate, where fruits are elements) in a 2D-plane like paper, to guide the viewer’s eye and create visually balanced, impactful images.

Tips and tricks for UCEED 2026 Drawing section

Given below are tips and tricks students can use to ace the UCEED drawing questions.

1. Daily Sketching: Begin with the habit of carrying a sketchbook always and drawing your surroundings, will help you develop visual memory and hand-eye coordination in the initial stages of learning.

2. Timed Sketching: Timed sketching allows you to practise with speed and efficiency, which is essential for exams, now focusing on drawing aptitude with increased weightage on the Part B (Drawing Aptitude).

3. Observational Drawing: Drawing what you actually see like the object and associated with focus on texture, shadow, light source etc., to enhance your realistic, expressive rendering.

4. Material Explorations: Experiment with different tools and develop your own techniques using pencil, pens and other sketching mediums like charcoal etc. Explore the line weight, texture and effects possible to develop your own style.

5. Learn by Copying(Learning by Seeing): Analyse and copy sketches from the reputed designer to understand different approaches to form line, and rendering. This is for learning.

Understanding Storyboarding in UCEED Exam 2026

Storyboarding skills are critical for designers, enabling them visualisation of processes, user journeys and events of sequences. It is about telling a story, visually in a frame by frame manner as depicted below. In Design Aptitude exams, storyboards assess sequential thinking, user interaction understanding and clear narrative communication.

A storyboard is a visual narrative, in a logical frame-by-frame approach, illustrating the progression in actions, emotions or environmental changes. For story boarding we would be sharing a guide for helping you with the clear beginning, middle and end.

• User Centric Approach : In design entrance exam the storyboards can be effective tool in following scenarios:

• User Interaction with Product and Interaction : This helps in depicting the user’s experience, paint points and how design solutions address them.

• Simplicity and Clarity : storyboards are quick communication, using simple clear sketches and minimal text. Avoid clutter that distracts from the core narrative

Tips to create Visually Compelling StoryBoards for UCEED 2026 Exam

1. Define your story: Before jumping directly in, clarify yourself with the following:

• Problem Statement

• Who is the user ?

• What is the Context ?

• Proposed Solution/Message to convey?

2. Begin with Thumbnails: Start with small, rough sketches (thumbnails) for each frame to quickly experiment with compositions and flows.

3. Set Character and Environment: While making thumbnails, simple stick figures convey emotions and actions, a few lines suggest environments, focussing only the necessary context.

4. Annotations: Use brief notes, arrows, and speech/thought bubbles to support the actions and emotions in the given frame.

5. Practise Scenarios: Work through scenarios like a user encountering a problem, and your design solving it, or step-by-step product use. This helps in building a sequential and visual thinking. Practice UCEED previous year papers for structural understanding.

Let’s try to understand the Process of Storyboarding in a frame by frame manner and supporting visuals.

Sample Story: The Unspoken Bond

Old Rohan, the fisherman, threw his fishing line into the calm river. A bright kingfisher bird, named Kiki, landed close by, watching a shiny small fish. "Not many fish today, Kiki?" Rohan quietly said. Kiki made a short, happy sound, tipping its head as if it understood. "You need to wait patiently, small friend," Rohan told it, "and look carefully." Suddenly, Kiki quickly dove down and caught the small fish super fast. Rohan laughed, pulling in his fishing line with nothing on it. "You're faster than me today, my friend! Maybe you can show an old man how it's done." Kiki flew away fast, a quick blue flash, leaving Rohan smiling at the river's peaceful lesson.

Frame 1: A Quiet Start

• Description: Old Rohan sits by a very calm river, throwing his fishing line into the water. The sun is just coming up, making everything look peaceful. Nearby, a bright blue and orange kingfisher bird named Kiki lands on a branch close to the water, watching a tiny, shiny fish.

Frame 2: A Little Chat

• Description: Rohan looks at Kiki and quietly asks, "Not many fish today, Kiki?" Kiki leans its head to one side and makes a small, happy sound, as if it's answering him. Rohan then gently tells Kiki, "You need to wait patiently, small friend, and look carefully."

Frame 3: A Quick Grab

• Description: Suddenly, Kiki moves very fast! It dives straight down into the water and snatches the tiny fish with its beak. Water splashes all around. Rohan watches, surprised but also a little amused, his own fishing line still in the water, empty.

Frame 4: A Happy Smile

• Description: Rohan laughs to himself as he pulls his empty fishing line out of the water. He looks to where Kiki just flew off, a fast blue flash disappearing into the distance. Rohan has a big smile on his face, feeling happy about the simple lesson the river and Kiki taught him.

StoryBoarding sample for the above storyline in (04 Frames)

Common Sketching Challenges in 2026 UCEED Exam

Sketching is a skill that demands persistence for both free hand drawing or storyboarding exercises. We would be discussing the most common challenges or the mistakes done by aspirants in the process of learning:

1. Fear of the Blank Page: Embrace sketches as exploration, non-perfection.

(Begin with light lines, focus on essence, and accept imperfections)

2. Lack of Speed: Time management is crucial.

(Practise with rapid visualisation and strict time limits for sketches or Storyboarding)

3. Inconsistency in the Practice: Regular, Short daily sessions are more effective than long sittings. (Make sketches and storyboarding a habit)

4. Limited Visual Vocabulary: Actively observe the world. Study object making, light and human interactions. Practice UCEED drawing questions for a better understanding.

5. Seeking Feedback: Share work with the mentors or peers, constructive criticism is invaluable for improvement and new perspectives.

Mastering Sketching skills and storyboarding skills is vital for qualifying design entrance exams like NID, UCEED, NIFT and developing the core competencies for a successful design career. These skills enable visual thinking, effective communications, and rapid iteration of design concepts.