10 Unique & Creative Gift Ideas for Designers

You might be struggling to think of what to get the designer or other creative person in your life for the holidays. Maybe some expensive, weird looking chair? Actually – like anyone else –designers like useful gifts, we just also appreciate the artistic nature of things. With that in mind, here are a baker’s dozen of beautiful and useful gift ideas for designers.

1. Pantone CAPSURE Color Matcher

This is every designer’s dream gadget. Scan and capture colors anywhere, easily and quickly. It then matches the scanned color to a Pantone color. It’s pricey, but if you’re looking to impress, this will certainly do the trick.

2. Browser Sketch Pad

Wireframing is a technique that most serious web designers still use. This wireframing sketchpad tool is very useful, and well-loved. This is one gift that will reward you with a bang for your buck.

3. UI Stencil Kit

Designing UI elements is something most web designers have to do, but don’t like much. This basic UI kit comes with the stencil board and a mechanical pencil. Upgraded kit items will cost slightly more. The company also offers a series of UI stencils for iPhone, Android and Windows 8.

4. Pixel Ruler

Probably every new or fairly new web designer has wanted this at some point, regardless of whether they knew it existed already or not. This is the perfect gift for the new designer on your list.

5. Weighted Cord Cable Organizer

If there’s something graphic and web designers have, it’s lots of gadgets and cables. Warmshine promotes neater, more organized workspaces with this simple, smart and sleek product.

6. The North Face Surge II Charged Backpack

The North Face backpack is a great item for techies on the go. Tuck away your tablet, phone, laptop and other items neatly into specialized compartments. The backpack also comes with a large capacity Joey T55 power supply that charges USB devices for several days. It’s rugged and built to last, but also sleek and versatile enough to commute with.

7. Custom Letterpress Stationery

What better way to impress a designer friend than to give them a gift alongside a beautiful, custom-printed card? Or the letterpress could be the gift itself – a set of customized stationery for them to cherish.

8. Cyber Clean

Working lunches lead to messy keyboards for designers and others who spend too much time in front of the screen. Cyber Clean makes the job of getting all the old crumbs and other junk out of your keyboard easy.

9. Pantone Formula Guide

Not every designer always has access to a computer. This is a very useful gift that’s easy to carry. The recipient will be very thankful.

10. Logitech Wireless Trackball

Sometimes things that look cool aren’t as well liked by the intended audience as you’d think. That wasn’t the case with this ergonomically designed mouse. It offers several cool features like back and forward navigations, a programmable button, a thumb-controlled trackball and others.

These gift ideas for designers run the gamut of economical to pricey and simple to high tech. Hopefully somewhere in this list you’ve found the perfect item for that special creative person you know!