It’s that time of year again, where gifts and holiday cheer are in the air. With all the gifts to buy for friends and family, it can be hard to know what gifts you should get for your graphic designer friends.
Luckily, I have accumulated years of experience as a graphic artist and I am here to help! Speaking from experience, I am sharing here a list of things aka best gifts I would be happy to get myself.
Please note, the following gift ideas were not sponsored or requested by any companies mentioned below. I simply picked what I tried and tested. So, let’s roll:
Classic Gift Idea for Graphic Designers #1: A Book about Graphic Design
Here I am holding the book I recently got for myself called “The History of Graphic Design Vl.2 1960-Today” (Taschen). This book is massive! It’s heavy and filled with a lot of historic references, graphic artists’ names I should know, and lots and lots of visuals I can use as inspiration.
This book will be a great gift for anyone passionate about design, design student or seasoned professional. I have a lot of Taschen titles and appreciate their aesthetics as well as the quality. We, graphic designers, are picky about these things and holding a well-designed heavy book gives us a special kind of nerdy buzz.
Gift Idea #2: Panton Color Mugs
This is a perfect gift idea for graphic designers – tea/coffee lovers. If you’re a designer – you most likely drink coffee or tea to wake up in the morning or work super late to meet deadlines.
I don’t advocate for all-nighters and crunch work schedules, but I do get so caught up in the flow of work that time stops. I usually have my favourite cup of tea beside the mouse pad on my desk.
I love mugs with cool motivational quotes but finding mugs with great typography is a real struggle! It seems the selection on the web doesn’t have good options. A designer’s nightmare is seeing a distasteful font combination on their cup while sipping coffee. Just thinking about it makes me cringe. Therefore, let your designer friends design their mugs and pick up a set of Panton Coffee Mugs instead. Bonus points if you know your graphic artist friend’s favourite colour palette!
Graphic Designer Mood Boost Gift Idea #3: Light therapy lamp
A light therapy lamp is always a great gift for people who work from home or have trouble sleeping. If you are not sure what type of light therapy lamp to get, I recommend this SAD Lamp which has multiple colour settings and brightness levels.
In my hometown, Vancouver, BC (Canada) it gets pretty dark and rainy in the fall through winter and my light therapy lamp keeps me awake, alert and happy in my designer’s workspace.
My favourite setting is warm light and I usually have it on morning through late day. Despite the grey weather outside it always feels sunny inside my office.
Sustain Creative Focus Gift Idea #4: Fitness time tracker
The next gift is also something to keep your designer friends organized – wearable fitness activity – time tracker. Not only do I use this device to track my steps and sleep but also as a watch, timer and focus device.
One of my favourite features is syncing my phone and fitness tracker so I DON’T have to have my phone around all the time. Smartphones can serve as one of the biggest hurdles for creative deep work. Did you know that just having your phone around significantly reduces your ability to focus? However, if I still want to respond to new clients’ calls and provide good service to existing clients I need to be able to know when somebody is calling me. The syncing feature helps me to never miss a call, stay focused on my creative block and keep my work office as a cell-free zone.
A Perfect Gift Idea For Cold Feet #5: Warm Socks
Warm fuzzy socks may not be an obvious choice as a gift for a graphic designer but trust me, warm socks will make a thoughtful gift during winter days.
It is very easy to get cold feet when you are working on a computer all day. A nice, big, comfy pair of socks can make all the difference in the world!
When I work on a creative task I like to be very comfortable so I can stay focused and generate new ideas without being bothered by the external world.
A Thoughtful Gift Idea For a Designer’s Sore Back #6: Warm Shoulders or Back Wrap
If you want to go another level you can gift your designer friends a warm back wrap. I used to own one for shoulders and it was truly one of the simplest things that helped me to ease the shoulder tension while working long hours at my desk.
During the winter holiday, a warm back wrap will be especially a handy gift to keep warm and comfortable.
Most Needed Gift Idea for Graphic Designs #7: Mouse Pad with Wrist Support
If your designer friend doesn’t have a mouse pad with extra support for the wrist please get them one ASAP! This will help to avoid nerve damage and wrist pain which are common problems for visual artists who work on the computer.
I learned the hard way and at some point, I even practiced designing with my left hand! Thankfully, I got myself the mouse pad with extra support which elevated any stress and discomfort and allowed me to create many more amazing graphic designs and digital art.
There is a great variety of pretty good-looking mouse pads – I like the marble designs– perhaps it’s time for an upgrade for me. I had my mouse pad for over 8 years and it looks very weathered and well used.
Perfect Gift Idea for a Graphic Designer Traveller #8: Stylish computer bag/backpack
I am currently on the lookout for a great computer bag that would look stylish and yet would fit all my digital devices and whatnot.
I am always on the go carrying around a laptop, an iPad tablet, headphones, wires, charger in addition to miscellaneous stuff like a hard drive, cables and adapters… I need all of it to fit easily in this sleek-looking bag that will also have enough room for a sketchbook, pens and cosmetic bag if needed!
I like changing the ambience and working at different locations so I need a great solution for this problem. So far I like Bromen bags, Bostanten and EaseGave.
The Most Important Piece of Furniture for any Graphic Designer Gift Idea #9: Stand-up Desk
I was always tempted to get one of these for myself, and finally this year I made a leap and became a proud owner of a Progressive Standup Desk.
These desks are fantastic and I love the idea behind them – having a standing desk makes you much more productive in my experience (and healthier).
I also love how Progressive desks are sturdy and come in different sizes. I find that many desks out there lack depth (or width). When you need to sketch, write things down, use books for reference – the narrow desk becomes cluttered fast.
My new stand-up desk looks great in my office and helps me to be more organized and productive.
Must-have for Graphic Designer Friend Eyes Best Gift #10: Blue light glasses
Did you know that exposure to blue light after 8 pm can have a significant impact on our sleep and mood?! Bright light is great at the beginning of the day – the eyes act as receptors for the light to kick start lots of vital processes in the body.
However, blue light in the evening will do more harm than good and unfortunately graphic artists often work late or get more productive during quiet hours at night.
I notice when I forget to wear my blue light glasses I struggle to fall asleep. I also noticed that sometimes I get sensitive to the computer light and wearing blue light blockers makes my eyes feel more comfortable. There are many great options on Amazon.
The Best Gift and Most Functional for Graphic Designers Idea #11: Apple Gift Card
This is my favourite gift of all! It’s super functional and suits any budget of any creative person. You can pick a suitable denomination and be a part of your designer-digital artist- friend’s most precious working tool – new Macbook Pro or iMac.
Last birthday I asked my family to only gift me an Apple Gift Card since I am due for a new iMac. If your designer friend already has an up-to-date MacBook of their own, and Apple gift card can be used to purchase apps, drawing tablets, backup tower, speakers, headphones, apple watch, music, movies and more!
I hope you’ve found this gift guide useful! The gift ideas listed above will suit not only the Christmas holidays theme but any other special occasion such as birthdays, anniversaries and so on.
Please share this article with anyone who may benefit from this information!
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