Since christmas is coming up I decided to think over what is a best way to please a designer during christmas season. Of course the knowledge about your designer’s friend collection does help a lot, some of those may be ones that are useful anyways.
- Calligraphy set
- Typometer
- Typography home decorations
- Organisation tools
- Design books
- Dot grid notebooks
- Pantone Universe
- Desk supplies
For any designer that is interested in typography and lettering but haven’t started their adventure with calligraphy. They can be found in many versions and it’s a gift that can be figuratively afforded by everyone (dependable on size of set you will set your heart on)
If your designer is interested in typography this is definitely a go-to gift. It’s a kind of ruler that has all important measuring sizes for typographers and can be found in numerous shapes and sizes on Amazon.
This comes to plates, posters, wall decals, lettering wall decorations – anything of this kind could be a great addition to designer’s workspace as a decoration as well as a source of future inspiration.
Most designers I know aren’t the best in organising their stuff, especially if they are young and just starting their career. I still have lots of problems with that aspect. So any calendar, planner, magnetic/chalkboard/white board are definitely a go-to if your designer doesn’t own one yet.
Those maybe bit tricky since designers usually own quite a collection of books. There are some less obvious though and I would make a short list of those:
1. Making Handmade Books by Alisa Golden – suggested for designers with bookbinding aspirations or DIY lovers.
2. The stroke. Theory of writing by Gerrit Noordzij – great book dedicated especially for font designers and calligraphers. For those it’s definitely a must-have.
3. Color Inspirations by Darius A. Monsef – book released by Colourlovers site might seem unnecessary since you can browse those palettes online. I still love this one though, it has a vast collection of palettes and is an amazing inspiration tool.
That may be not the every designer go-to, but most designers I know use those with dedication. There are many of those available, even in my country (I would love to lay my hands on some from USA or UK though). From experience I know the best ones are spiral bound, but there aren’t as much of those on the market as of usual book bound. In Poland I recommend Memobooks and Brambla, UK – Monsieur Notebooks, USA – Rhodia, Dot Grid Journals by Behance.
This i think is quite obvious – most of designers adore Pantone guides and they are integral part of their lives. Owning item like Pantone Universe mug (or a set, as they are usually sold as) is definitely pleasing to the eye, just as something smaller, like Pantone Universe USB drive. You have to be aware that those are rather more pricy gifts though 🙂
They are definitely rather a small but nice addition for a designer. Any kind of fun post-it notes (interesting print and/or shape), sharpies, fun duct tape or washi tape (paper tape that comes in variety width and patterns). For any designer that likes to keep their notes fun and organised such mediums will definitely find a place in their drawer. Those are rather smaller items so should rather be treated as a small gift or as addition to bigger one.
I hope that if you have some designers to make happy this christmas you will find something that is both fun and just the right gift for them 🙂
madness designed. 