How to Prepare for UID BDes CAT (Creative Ability Test)

The Creative Ability Test (CAT) is one of the basic entrance tests for admission to the UID, India. This test is very helpful for the design aspirant as it boasts the aptitude to design creatively, and innovatively, and present new ideas. UID appreciates innovation and the ability to solve a problem; CAT aims to show how you can bring your inspiration into practice and create fascinating products. In this article, you will learn about the exam pattern, the syllabus and tips on how you can prepare for the UID entrance exam effectively.

New: Prepare For NIFT, NID, & UCEED 2025 with Our Free Crash Course!

UID DAT 2025: Registration Link | Preparation Guide

Don't Miss:  Top design entrance exams | Top design colleges

This Story also Contains

1. UID - BDes CAT Exam Syllabus
2. How to Prepare for UID-CAT Examination
3. Tips and Strategies for UID- CAT Exam Preparation
4. Sample Questions for UID-CAT

UID - BDes CAT Exam Syllabus

Although the CAT of UID covers creativity, the list of subjects is quite vast, as they develop different design-related skills. Students should have a good understanding of the UID exam syllabus for effective preparation.

Here we have covered the different topics/sections for good weightage that could help you unleash your creativity :

1. Mind Teasers

They are excellent exercises to begin with to challenge your creativity in thinking strategies and coming up with a viable solution for an issue.

Activity 01: Imagine some common items that are used in day-to-day life that can be changed or redesigned. The understanding of design could be depicted through proper sketches and validating a change in each aspect:

2. Develop Design Knowledge

Knowing design terms and trends that aim at your current overall design awareness, popular designers and famous products could be great starting points. Here are some suggestions of Good books to start polishing your understanding of design and its application:

1. Design of Everyday Things

2. Change By Design by Tim Brown

3. Design for a Better World by Don Norman

4. Sketching The Basics

3. Decision Making

You might be posed certain design questions, thus being forced to come up with valid solutions required to test an aspirant’s decision making. The exposure to design blogs, Websites, and Design blogs, is very helpful to develop a practical and viable visual library. Some important website and blog suggestions could be as follows:

1. Dezeen.com

2. Core77.com

3. re-thinkingthefuture.com

4. Sketching

Simple, fast drawings of objects or scenes, an evaluation of your observation abilities, and how accurate your depictions are. The following are some suggested exercises to begin with:

1. Straight Lines, Ellipses, and Simple Geometric shapes

2. Second, we can start with 3D-Geometric Volumes

3. Additive and Subtractive Volume-based Exercises

4. Shape Manipulation from Simple to advanced forms

5. Imagination & Innovative Creativity

Compares your imaginative creativity with that of the test makers using images, words or prompts to develop a visual theme or story.

How to Prepare for UID-CAT Examination

1. Sketching

It is advised to spend a great time sketching from references, focusing on simple things surrounding us. Also, work on working plans and sketch plans and try to include a variety of exercises, as advised below.

1. Indoor and Outdoor Perspective Drawings

2. Products in our Daily life surrounding

3. Animals and Human Figures add originality to the idea

2. Take a look at the world

For a designer you will need to observe your surroundings as it will feed you ideas. Spend a day and document either designs which you observe around you every day be it in nature, architecture or products. Such exercise will broaden an aspirant's visual library.

3. Design Creative Solutions

Set your mind into designing problems. Now imagine how you will approach changing a commonly used item or expressing ideas about a particular issue with the help of design.

4. Design News

Learn what is going on today with design in both graphic and industrial designs. Winning projects would require one to follow design blogs, watch interviews of designers besides observing the product innovations.

5. Practice Creating a Visual Narrative

Learn about and practice telling a story using pictures or graphics. For instance, develop a small story with pictures focusing on continuity and smoothness of the pictures.

Tips and Strategies for UID- CAT Exam Preparation

1. Organization and Time – The ways of organizing time are very important because of a limited number of time in the exam. To minimize wasting much time on only one question ensure you try to allocate most of your time on areas that you believe are easy scores.

2. Be Original – unlike other colleges or firms that value mastery of technique, the CAT values creative thinking. The goal is not to build a home that is flawless, the goal is to build a home that is original.

3. Free Your Mind – Don’t dwell too much on one process, always come at it from a new angle. In meeting these objectives the examiners are keen to see innovative concepts hence stay away from the ordinary.

4. Sensory Integration – As I said before and I will say it again, inspiration is not solely from the visual aspect. For example, use your other appendages to formulate other, more creative approaches such as through touch, sound or smell.

5. Do Not Stress Out – You definitely cannot do your best when your head is spinning. Breathe deeply if this becomes very frustrating and tell yourself that this is a creativity test.

Sample Questions for UID-CAT

Q1 . Choose any one profession from the list provided below. Imagine and illustrate his/her professional work space and render it with color pencil only. Follow the instructions listed below.

1. Shoe maker

2. Driver

3. Fashion Designer

4. Artist

5. Street food vendor

6. Gymnasium

Q2 . Make a story using six different objects listed below in six frames respectively and create a storyboard. Type the story in the space given in a maximum of 100 words.

Sequence of the object is:

Your frame-wise objects are:

Frame 1 - Bag

Frame 2 - Door

Frame 3 - Vehicle

Frame 4 - Shoe

Frame 5 - Tree

Q3 . Draw and render (in pencil only) a final product from the silhouettes given below, combining all the parts in a logically correct manner :

The UID Creative Ability Test is entertaining fun for any design enthusiast. This way you get an opportunity to demonstrate your creativity, analytical mind and skills in designing. There is nothing to worry, all aspects involved in it can be practiced through sketching, creative problem solving and design awareness to challenge this exam. Again, creativity is the keyword here, so relax and enjoy the process!

When you study for the UID CAT, you are not only cramming for a test; you are setting the stage for a positive career in design.