6 Cool Gifts for a Graphic Designer

How much money do you have? Nah, that’s the wrong question. How much money are you willing to spend for a gift? That’s better.  The catch is that your friend is a graphic designer, so usual stuff like socks or a bag won’t work. So what do designers love?

Few Bucks

Look over her shoulder to see which software she uses. Then, buy stickers of that software Sketch, Adobe, whatever.

Hint: look for some new or niche products.

• Framer is good
• A sticker of her favorite color picker has some humor value

Dozens of Dollars

Inspirational books, not necessarily from the same design field. Buying architecture books for a graphic designer is okay.

Avoid buying theory. Although most graphic designers (including me) would benefit from some education, we don’t take these hints well.

$20 or $200

May I suggest Icons8? There are 50k icons like these:

I work there, yeah. There’s a special offer for Quora users:

1. Get the subscription activated on the date on her birthday
2. Get a full refund if she’s like “meh”.

Just talk to our support team and refer to this article.

$300

Designed by Apple in California

$100–500

Pantone palette or set of palettes

Coated and uncoated are okay ($155). If he’s a UX designer, don’t sweat it; anything goes. We don’t use them, but hey, we’d still like to look like real designers!

If you’re short of money, steal them from a local print shop. Hint: never trust a designer who says he never stole a Pantone palette.

Thousands of Dollars

Wacom Cintiq, as Matthew Hartman suggested. It’s such a cool gift that I won’t link it; it’s too expensive. Let’s admire the photo instead.

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About the Author
Ivan is a founder of Icons8. He got his first job after drawing a banner with CTR of 43%. After years of creating icons, he specializes in rapid prototyping and backlog grooming.