7 Joyful Last-Minute Gift Ideas for Graphic Designers

“Perhaps one of the most difficult demographics to shop for are designers because of their notorious pickiness.” – Zane Fletcher at Flywheel (@Memes2AnEnd)

Gift giving can be one of the most daunting tasks of the year. Well, life can seem to throw a wrench in that task when it gives you a designer in your life to shop for. While the holidays are closing in on you, I’ve got you covered. Fear not procrastinators… I’ve got 7 gift ideas that are sure to bring joy to those hard-to-shop-for designers.

Take a look at these 7 last-minute gift ideas to ease your #holiday stress: Click To Tweet

Wacom Tablets (Pricy, but worth it: $295.99)

Ever wonder how those magical Red Branch posters came to life? One of these babies. Fire it up and you can draw on your screen by hand. These top-of-the-line tablets are a great gift for any graphic designer, and a personal recommendation from me because we have one right here at Red Branch that we use to create some rad posters. They take a little bit to get used to, but once you have it down, limits will have no bounds. The good news? You can pick it up from your local Best Buy or get 2-day shipping.

*(photo credit and product link: BestBuy)

Want to see what these Wacoms are capable of? Check out one of the latest Instagram doodles from Kristine Osbourne.

CMYK Swatch Book ($25.00)

C…M…Y… What? CMYK refers to the 4 colors printers (cyan, magenta, yellow and black… which is referred to as “k”) use to create all printable colors. Now you might be wondering why a designer might need this gem if they can select from millions of more colors on their design program. The answer is that there are 3 different color processes a design program can handle. RGB (red, green and blue) is used for all digital designs, CMYK is used for print designs and Pantone (the universal print color that will print exactly how it looks) can also be used for print. Why not get a Pantone book instead? They’re expensive as hell. Instead, support a Kickstarter by getting this amazing CYMK swatch book off of amazon with 2-day shipping.

*(photo credit & product link: Amazon)

Graphic Designer Coffee Mugs ($12.99)

Coffee is a designer’s best friend. What better than a great mug they can appreciate? My particular favorite (above) from CafePress keeps that designer you know up to speed with typographic vocabulary. Though that’s not my only recommendation for an awesome coffee mug, any of the other mugs from the link above will bring that designer caffeinated happiness. Premium or express shipping options are available at checkout.

*(photo credit & product link: CafePress)

Skullcandy Ink’d 2.0 Mic’d Headphones with Mic ($16.99)

If you haven’t heard of the Skullcandy brand, get yourself familiar right now. These are the exact earbuds I use every day here at Red Branch Media and they are phenomenal. What makes these superior to any other earbud out there is that they reap amazing benefits at such a low cost. These headphones put out great sound for jamming to music, they’re extremely comfortable and you can use them to take calls (something I and any other designer will have to do daily, weekly or monthly). Get a pair at your local Target, or order it online with express shipping.

*(photo credit & product link: Target)

UI Sketch Pad ($32.99)

Know a designer who’s always on the go or simply loves to hang out at the local coffee shop sketching designs? Then this is PERFECT for them. This amazing sketchpad allows designers to sketch out ideas responsively in both browser or mobile forms. What they’ll love? Being able to put their idea to paper as soon as it pops into their head, without having to wait to get home to sketch it out and possibly forgetting about it. Snag this off of Amazon with 2-day shipping.

*(photo credit & product link: Amazon) 

Amazon Echo Dot ($39.99 – $49.99)

You’ve seen them on TV… those AI hands-free speakers that you can talk to. While I always thought it would be nice to have one, but I never wanted to spend $100.00. Amazon just made it possible by releasing the Echo Dot. This amazing gadget is affordable and will come in handy for any situation a designer might be in that needs a quick answer. Standard PowerPoint slide dimensions? Done. Heavy workload and no time to go to an online website or call for delivery? Done. Want to play some music but don’t want to lose focus while designing? Done. Car broke down and need an Uber to your client meeting? Done. This Dot can do it all, and much more. Pick one up with 2-day shipping off of Amazon.

*(photo credit & product link: Amazon)

A Non-Express Option: Adobe Pillows ($20.00)

*Spoiler alert* – There’s no express shipping option on the manufacturer’s website, but if you really want to get these (they’re awesome by the way) you can wrap it the old-fashioned way by printing out a picture of their gift-to-be with a note letting them know their amazing gift is on its way!

*(photo credit & product link: Adobe Branded Merchandise)

Much like you have your favorite brand of cereal, whether you’re Mac or PC, Xbox or Playstation… designers have a favorite program. Let them obsess over their favorite program even more with a pillow in the form of their program’s icon. These adobe program icon pillows can be proudly displayed on a graphic designer’s couch, bed, or anywhere else they’d like to show it off. At 12×12,” it’s the perfect size for that designer to kick back and use as a headrest while working on their next project.

Overall, the holidays can be crazy, so don’t let gift purchases add to it. The designer in your life is guaranteed to love any of these gifts, and they’re all in an affordable price range (except the Wacom, but it’s worth it I promise). From earbuds to UI sketch pads, that designer will experience joy and appreciation this holiday. Now, just make sure you purchase these by December 21st or 22nd, procrastinators.

While you shop for and wrap these presents, make sure get into the holiday spirit with our Red Branch Holiday Playlist here!