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?
Look over her shoulder to see which software she uses. Then, buy stickers of that software Sketch, Adobe, whatever.
Sketch stickers, $3.99. A way to say, “I haven’t opened Photoshop for years,” even if you do it in secret after a short struggle with Sketch’s bitmap editor.
Hint: look for some new or niche products.
Inspirational books, not necessarily from the same design field. Buying architecture books for a graphic designer is okay.
Brutal World by Peter Chadwick is so cool, as well as the rest of the Wired’s list.
Avoid buying theory. Although most graphic designers (including me) would benefit from some education, we don’t take these hints well.
May I suggest Icons8? There are 50k icons like these:
Dancing with Devil icon by Icons8
I work there, yeah. There’s a special offer for Quora users:
Just talk to our support team and refer to this article.
Designed by Apple in California
The book of design by Apple. I find it cheesy and overpriced but irresistible.
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.
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.
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.
End the return nightmare and make online shopping stress-free (more…)
Killer UX transforms dying businesses. See precisely how intuitive interfaces slashed operational chaos and turned…
Robots doing all your work sounds perfect—until they’re stuck in loops, grabbing random tweets, and…
Most emails are forgettable. Great ones hook you fast, look sharp, and drive clicks. Here’s…
We put top AI face swappers to the test—beards, glasses, head tilts, and more. Some…
Learn more about each step within the design process to improve your UX workflow.
This website uses cookies.