8 Stellar Gift Ideas for the Designer in Your Life

Designers tend to have a deeper appreciation for the things money can’t buy. Because of their artistic souls, many gifts seem to fall a little flat. Outside of buying them another candle, how can you ramp up your gift-giving efforts to find the perfect gift for designers?

Perhaps you’ve already thought about a gift for a designer such as drawing materials. We wanted to look at things a bit out of the norm. Many of these presents should be ordered in advance, so they’ll require a bit of planning. However, we also included a few that can be found on the fly if you need a last minute surprise. 

What Is the Best Gift for Designer?

In a study of 2,000 Americans about gift giving, around 46% feel they’re bad at giving gifts to others. Many struggle to find just the right thing and often turn to gift cards or cash to fill the gap. 

While there’s nothing wrong with giving generic gift cards so your loved one can grab a cup of coffee or choose the present they desire, sometimes you want to get a little more personal and show you put more thought into the present.

Also, you might have a designer who you contract for some work or on your staff and want just the perfect gift for the designer you know. 

Here are some ideas for a gift for designer nearly any artistic soul will appreciate. We’ve chosen all price ranges and styles.

1. Oh, Crop

If you’re looking for a gift for designer that won’t cost a fortune, this tee shirt is a lot of fun. A simple black tee with the crop symbol and the words “Oh, Crop!”

It comes in several styles, including men’s, women’s and youth. You can also choose a different color if you don’t care for black. It is 100% cotton, machine washable and pull on. 

The shirt seems to be fairly high quality with excellent reviews on quality, fit and uniqueness. 

2. HUION Inspiroy Keydial KD200 Bluetooth 5.0-Wireless Graphics Drawing Tablet

Most graphic designers will already have a drawing tablet, but this one is a lot of fun because of the built-in keyboard. At only $169–plus additional savings when coupons are available–it is inexpensive enough as a gift for designers for special occasions. Your favorite designer might even decide this is one of their favorite devices when on the go. 

3. Silently Judging Font Choice Mug

Mention Comic Sans to your favorite designer and they’ll either shudder with disgust or go into the reasons the font is clearly misunderstood and still a valuable tool for design. If graphic artists and other designers have one thing in common, it is their passion for choosing just the right type for any occasion.

A coffee mug can be the perfect gift for designer because you can fill it with candy, add a gift card, put a small plant in it or give them your favorite roast of coffee or type of tea. It also is a fairly inexpensive gift at $13.99. 

4. Online Course

Pick the brains of your favorite designer and find out what skill they’d most like to learn. Then, give them a course on that topic via the local community college or via an online source. You will have to do a little detective work for this gift. You need to know how they prefer to learn, what course they want to take and which school they prefer to attend.

You could also buy them a gift certificate for a site such as Udemy or Coursera. 

5. LOVEVOOK Laptop Backpack

Even someone in a nine to five design job is going to have to work from home occasionally or need a change of scenery. The LOVEVOOK laptop backpack has plenty of pockets, will protect a laptop and has a USB port for easy charging of a backup battery or your smartphone.

The bag retails for $48.98 and has five stars out of 7,184 ratings. It is one of the highest reviewed laptop bags on Amazon. It ranks as a great gift for designers because it also has a sleek minimalist design. We love the variety of color options and mixing of textures. 

6. Replica Surfaces

Do you know a designer who works on product shots and posts them online? If the designer in your life takes photos, getting them set up with a mini photo booth with backgrounds that are easily swapped around is a dream come true. 

While there are many different options for investing in or making rigid surfaces for photo taking needs, Replica Surfaces is probably one of the easiest solutions available and with plenty of variety. 

7. PHOPIK Mini Phone Tripod Stand

Designers sometimes find they need to take a photo on the scene with their smartphone camera. However, dragging along a tripod or other devices requires too much planning and effort for small jobs, such as creating a new design or posts for social media.

Depending on the level of design, you sometimes just need a quick background or relevant hero shot. Enter the PHOPIK mini tripod stand. This versatile stand will hold your phone straight or you can bend it around in any position you need to capture just the right image for your web design project or other need.

The tripod stand runs a mere $23.98 and is unique enough to show the person you put some real thought into a gift they might enjoy best. 

8. Moleskine Sketchbook

Whether they are laying out the design for a new website or just want to do a bit of drawing in their freetime, designers often carry art materials with them. Why not gift them with a moleskine sketchbook with a built-in tie to keep it all together? They can even add materials, paint options and other elements to the book and close it with the elastic strip. 

A 5-inch by 8.25-inch size runs $24.95 retail. You could also throw in their medium of choice for sketching to fill out the gift. 

Are Designers Picky?

Designers can be choosy about color selections and designs. Yet no two love the same thing. Although it’s sometimes nice to surprise a person with a gift you think they’ll love, it is also good to communicate and find out what they like.

Some designers may keep a wish list of items they’d enjoy, which makes your job extremely easy. Whatever you choose, they’re sure to love it.