26 Gift Ideas for a Designer

If you are friends with a designer you will know how difficult it is to buy gifts for them, but fear not I am here to help! We have chosen several designer gifts ranging from a £2 all the way up to £6,000, so if you are on a budget or money is no object, then we have it covered! These gifts have all been handpicked by our designers, if you know of a gift idea for a designer that we have not listed we would love to hear from you!

Junior Designer (£0-£10)

1. ASCII Heart Necklace (from £2)

Ascii Heart Necklace

Looking for something little more personal for a gift idea? This ASCII Neckless depicting a love heart, show your friend / boyfriend / girlfriend how much you care this a hand made necklace. You can pick up one of these here.

2. Macbook Pro Sticker (from £2)

Macbook Pro Sticker

We are big fans of Apple products here, a Macbook Pro is a graphic designers choice of weapon, why not customise it to stand out. This product is widely available in many different designs and can be purchased from Etsy, Amazon and many other retailers.

3. Sticky Note Origami (£2)

Origami Sticky Note

Want something quirky, creative and fun all in one gift idea? Stick-it notes can be turned into some beautiful 3D shapes all in a lunch break! Let your creative juices flow with this gift Idea. This product is available from Amazon.

4. iPhone Sticky Notes (£5)

iPhone Sticky Notes

Sticky notes case for your iPhone. Why use an app when it’s way easier to jot something down on paper the old fashion way. You can find this gift idea at iLoveHandles.

5. Camera USB / Creative USB Flash Drive (from £6)

Camera USB Stick

USB flash drives are used for transporting files and can easily get confused with others, so why not get a funky USB flash drive to stand out from the rest of the crowd? They are small and easy to transport, a perfect gift idea if you are on a budget. These Canon Camera USB flash drives are available here.

6. Colour Swatch Mug (£6.95)

Colour Swatch Mug

Looking for a gift for a print worker or printer? Check out this quirky colour tea matcher for perfect cup of tea every time! You can pick up one of these here.

7. Lego Characters (from £6.99)

Lego Characters

Who doesn’t love Lego? Every designer needs a desk companion of their favourite movie to keep them company or to guard their desk when they are absent! You can pick up one of these little guys at the Lego store or here.

8. CTRL ALT DELETE Cup Set (from £6.99)

CTRL ALT DELETE Cut Set

Looking for a gift for a design nerd? Look no further! This creative four piece cup set keyboard key set is a must have for any coffee or tea drinker. This cup set is available here.

9. Cyber Keyboard Cleaner (£7.99)

Cyber Keyboard Cleaner

Cyber Clean is a good practical gift idea for a designer or anyone who works on a computer, it being very simple and easy to use it will keep your keyboard nice and clean removing all of the tea and lunch time stains! Cyber Clean is available here.

Middleweight Designer (£10-£50)

1. Computer Screen Care (£10.99)

Computer Screen Care

Keeping a designers mac and desk clean is an ultimate must in order to stay organised! With this inexpensive gift and desk companion they can now take pride in their cleaning. These cute screen wipes are available here.

2. Pop Vinyl Character (from £13)

Pop Vinyl Character

We at Ocean Print love Pop Vinyl Figures, you may have seen our Judge Dredd Pop Figure in our Featured image on our first blog post. There are a ton to choose from, name any film you like and we are pretty sure you can get a Pop Figure from that film, our personal favourites are Smaug from the Hobbit films, an Alien from Alien vs. Predator and anything from Breaking Bad. You can even get Blank DIY Pop Figure to create your own personalised gift. Definitely something worth checking. They are available from Forbidden Planet.

3. USB Battery Charger (from £13)

USB Battery Charger

USB External Battery Chargers are absolutely brilliant, there’s nothing worse than running out of battery on the bus ride home from work. There is plenty of choice when it comes to a USB charger but we recommend Anker, not only do they sell USB chargers but they also sell a range of accessories to go with your trusty iPhone. Give the gift of never running out of battery life again.

4. Website Stencil Kit (from £13)

Website Stencil Kit

UI Stencils have some great products, if you work on mock ups using a pen and paper (instead of an iMac), then this is a must have. Save lots of time by sketching it out in pencil first before transferring your design to the mac. You can find all ui Stencils products here.

5. Phone Zoom Lens / Tripod (£19.99)

Phone Zoom Lens

Interested in photography as a side project? This is the perfect gift for a designer / photographer with an iPhone giving them much more freedom with phone photography, allowing them to use a zoom to capture more in-depth photographs. These kits are available here.

6. Software Subscription (£26.68)

Software Subscription

If you are still struggling with gift ideas, most designers will be using some software that will require a subscription why not give them a helping hand towards the subscription costs? Click here. To find out more about the Adobe suite.

7. iMac Adjustable Shelf (£29.99)

iMac Adjustable Shelf

Keeping a desk clutter free from hard drives, USB flash drives and time machines can be difficult especially with lots of projects on at once, these neat little shelf fits nice and snug on the back of an iMac providing a shelf to keep hard drives tucked away behind the mac. These little gadgets are available from here.

8. Blackboard / Wallpaper (£44.50)

Blackboard Wallpaper

Give the gift of open creativity, with a magnetised blackboard in which can be reused for sketching, idea development, concept showcasing and even within meetings to jot down ideas. This gift is a perfect gift for a designer who requires more space to make notes and to stay organised. These are available here.

Studio Manager (£50-£6,000)

1. Graphic Design Tablet (£65.39)

Graphic Design Tablet

Graphic tablets are a very cool and handy tool for illustrators and graphic designer alike. You can pick up graphic tablets fairly cheap which function just as good as the more expensive versions You can pick up this tablet here.

2. iMac Desk Stand / Organiser (£68.30)

iMac Desk Stand

Does your designer friend constantly struggle to keep their desk tidy? Give them a helping hand with the iMac desk organiser in which provides additional USB ports and a safe way of storing a keyboard. You can pick up one of these organisers here.

3. HDMI Phone Projector (£101.99)

HDMI Phone Projector

HDMI phone projectors are a great gift for any designer. Whether it’s to showcase some design work for a presentation or to see artwork on a large scale, this is an easily portable and powerful pocket tool. HDMI projectors can also be used with any device that has a HDMI capability., they can be used to make a personal cinema wherever you are. You can grab one of these here.

4. Celluon Epic Virtual Keyboard (£129.95)

Virtual Keyboard

Making notes on phones has developed over the years, but still does not provide an easy solution to make lots of notes quickly. This projector virtual keyboard provides an easy way to make notes, ideal for meetings, without having to carry around laptops or notepads. You can get one of these cool gadgets here.

5. Beats By Dre Headphones (£269.95)

Beats Headphones

Headphones are a great way to stay focused without any distraction, which is great for a designer that has tight deadlines. These headphones are worth every penny, they look good and provide a very clear sound. These are available here.

6. Apple Watch (TBA, £340 est)

Apple Watch

Not fully released yet but something we are defiantly excited about here at Ocean Print! Available in many different versions from sport to classic, if they like Apple products and watches they will definitely love this! These are being released in spring 2015, for more information check them out here.

7. Mac Pro (from £1,000)

Mac Pro

The Darth Vader of the mac products, this newly released beast from Apple is ideal for your designer who uses large files! This is the most powerful apple product released to date and will allow a designer to produce, render and transport files very quickly and effectively. You can get yours hand on one of these here.

8. 24K Gold iPhone By Brikk (£4,000 est)

Solid Gold iPhone

Got more cash then 50 Cent and are looking for something more than just an iPhone? Check out this 24k gold iPhone developed by Brikk. It is a seriously impressive looking phone and comes with many more perks that are not offered by Apple. You can buy one of these here.

9. Duevel Sirius Speakers (£17,200)

Speakers

Why not blow the budget with these ear splitting monsters! Any designer would love these beasts in their studio, for more information check them out here.