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NIFT situation test
A lot has changed since I joined as a clueless student with a Science background.
I remember wondering what the situation test was about. Did they throw the candidate into various situations and judge his natural reactions? Imagine a dark room with disturbing lights and distant howls. No they don’t, in case you are still wondering!
So what is a situation test? Here is letting you know about the pitch before you go out to play your innings.
If you have passed the written test for NIFT, you will now appear for the practical test – called the situation test. It is held at the various NIFT centres.
In this 3 hour test you are given a set of things like adhesive, needle, thread, plastic sheets, straws, paper, ice cream sticks and aluminum foil. Out of this material you have to make a prototype of a design. Our batch was asked to design a shopping mall. Earlier batches have been asked to make a city bus, ladies handbag, magazine stand and a police kiosk.
You also get a sheet of paper on which to write about your design. It is advisable to write in a tabular fashion pointing out a particular feature of your design in each line.
Most candidates are eager to get cracking and begin to stick and cut as soon as they get the Question paper. It is a much better idea to use the time to think, ideate and then create. The whole test is about managing space and filling it with a few appropriate elements. Leave enough time to change your plan though, if your earlier vision is not taking shape.
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Nitasha Gaurav, an ex-faculty member of NIFT and the new fashion editor at Femina, has judged the entries of the situation test innumerable times. Here is her advice to candidates:
1.
Have a proper concept
Spend time thinking and planning
Make some sketches
Don’t just start without planning
And make sure you leave your work-sheets behind
2.
Remember you are working within a time limit.
So don’t be overambitious.
It’s better to have a good idea that’s simple than a messy complication
3.
Try and use as much of the material as u can.
Use all the different types of things provided but don’t force it.
4.
When you leave, make sure all your stuff is properly placed on the table with the necessary roll number, write-up, work sheets. Throw the rubbish in a dustbin.
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One information-seeker wrote to me –
Hey,
That’s really awesome!!! I am sorry I didn’t write earlier. I had a cold and was sleeping all this week. I let my brother Vipul know about you and also directed him to your blog.
I think the basic things he wanted to know about NIFT situation test are:
1. How much time do they give for the exam and how did you manage the time?
2. How did you go about creating your shopping mall model?
3. How did you create little objects like people and other things quickly and creatively?
Hope you had a fun time in Kashmir and back to normal now.
Vividh
Answer 1: Time
They gave 3 hours. I used half the time to think and the other half to execute my idea.
Answer 2: Going about it
Here is the design procedure of the shopping mall I made.
First I thought of the overall shape and size and checked whether I
had the material for it. The main thing was that the mall should be free-standing and look very 3D.
I didn’t want to waste time making the walls. So, I simply made the wall of the mall by making a wide cylinder with the plastic sheets we were given. I could have been more innovative with the shape, of course. A cylinder, I reasoned, was quite a stable structure, not wonky or to liable to collapse.
Walls and staircase
So I started thinking of how to make all the 2D material into 3D elements. Making plastic sheets stand does not make it 3D. I used a flat plastic sheet to make a 3D winding staircase. This I did by cutting a spiral out of the sheet. I raised this spiral from the middle point to give me a dropping spiral in the way some Diwali decorations are. Then I ran a stick through this spiral so that it could stand on its own. I put in the centre of the mall. I called it an escalator though, now that I think of it, I have never
seen a winding escalator.
I did not cover the mall so that the judges could admire my spiral escalator by peeping in from above!
Floors
I made shelf like levels inside the mall to indicate floors.
The floors were divided according to what was sold on each floor.
Now how does one show the product divisions on all these floors?
I made an icon/ a symbol to represent each product type and stick it on the floor level. I drew this symbol on a 1×1 piece of plastic with a marker.
Ground floor Apparel dress symbol
First floor Sports and technology racquet and TV symbol
Second floor Food coffee cup symbol
Front Face
Then I put promotional cut outs on the front of the mall. This is called giving the mall a façade – a front face. I enjoyed sticking a piece of rectangular plastic sheet that represented the front of the mall. I used a marker to give the mall a name and further stuck cut-outs of human figures in postures of wild abandon. This was the detailing I incorporated in my design. I did not mess about making noses and eyes on the figures.
Environment
I also gave it a boundary and a car park as I thought that the judges would notice that I thought beyond the mall, about its environment too. I thought about the person who comes to the mall from the moment he parks his car. Yes, it is very important to
consider the WHOLE EXPERIENCE of the person you are designing for.
One of the ways to go about your design and also writing about it is
to imagine the experience and design at various ‘interaction points’.
For example -
The mall goer parks his car.
He enters the mall (from inside or outside?)
What does he do on entering? He looks at a mall directory/map perhaps.
Where does he want to go? He wants skates and goes to the first floor where the sale of sports goods is indicated by an icon showing a racquet.
So maybe he just ran into the mall as he wished to go to the washroom. I added signs indicating the washroom. I threw in fire exits for good measure. I made the doors as plastic flaps on the walls.
And then he goes to the car park and goes home. Anything missing?
Keep the TARGET CONSUMER in mind.
Use the word ‘target customer’ in your write up.
Something New
All these elements like escalators and floors are always found in a mall. Do you have any new idea? Something totally innovative? An idea would really score with the judges. It would be the USP of your situation test.
Lets see -
Maybe you could have a babysitting corner on the ground floor
Maybe u could have a timepass cafe on the ground floor where it says
that people are here to mix with no strings attached and no future
obligations - this is for people who come with families. They are bored and
don’t want to walk around but would like to chit chat a bit.
A platform for events - education info stalls, Greenpeace campaigns,
college street-plays perhaps.
Thematic game stall - Valentine’s day, Diwali, Halloween
Or yes, a PCO! A basic need, not found in malls.
I made no details like people although it might be a good idea if youare good at details. However one has to remember that the main job to achieve is a good mall design and people should be thought of later, if one has time left.
Designing smaller objects
The situation test was taken in batches as there are so many people who attempt it. The other batch was asked to make a coffee table. Now this design would not require the intricacies and the elaboration of a mall but would require a simpler and more thought out design. Every curve of the table, every leg should contribute to the overall designvision you have. In this design ERGONOMICS is important. This means that the design and its contact with the human body should be easy and pleasant. For example, by curving the sides of the table inwards you could make it easier for the person sitting at the table to lean further inwards.
I would attempt a coffee table by first deciding whether I am making an elaborate carved table,
minimalistic curvy table,
portable lightweight table
or a multipurpose table.
After my decision I would mould all the features of the table along my primary decision. Do not treat a design in parts. First have the whole view in place.
I might also try to incorporate the MOOD of coffee drinking by making the table-top by laying a glass top over a layer of dark coffee beans. Now how would you make this? Make tiny paper balls by scrunching up bits of paper, pack them together in a layer and press down with a transparent/translucent plastic sheet. Explain in your write-up.
I am sure Vividh’s third question has been answered too!
The write-up
Mention-
Material (for example if you used a pink sheet over which you drew the patterns of wood, mention that the pink sheet is wood in your design)
Dimensions
Surface treatment
Purpose of design
Target consumer
Interaction points between the consumer and the design
Mood of the design (Luxurious, Masculine, Minimal or Plasticky)
If your English in not too good, Just list points instead of messing with tenses and stuff..
Tips
- Finishing is very important in the situation test. Your product must look polished, a design at a pro level, not a crafty school kid thing with glue and cello tape all over.
- There is not much space to write. It’s about half an A4 sheet, if I remember correctly. It is a good idea to keep the writing simple and tabular and meaningful. It’s quite a job for judges to read through so many write ups.
- Name your design if u have a great name
- Put in a USP - never been done before idea- something special about your design.
What they judge
Aesthetic sense
· Practical sense - usefulness of design
· Technical soundness
· BANG idea!
· Integrity of your design
· Sense of 3D
· Exploitation of materials provided
Hope that helps,
Best of luck!
