Wondering what to get your creative friends and loved ones? Look no further than this awesome selection!
If you're a designer there's little doubt that you'll have been told how difficult you are to buy gifts for. Anyone trying to find a good present for the designer in their life has experienced the same challenge: how to find something that's worthwhile, and meets the stringent criteria someone who works in the design industry would place on something they'd buy for themselves.
In the run-up to Christmas, we've chosen a range of items that cover the full gamut of cost too. So whether you've got a fiver to spend, or £500, we've got you covered! Check out our favourites below, and let us know in the comments if you've found a good gift for the designer in your life! And if you want a freebie, grab this free festive wallpaper.
01. Silly holidays calendar
The calendar highlights the silliest holidays around
There were some amazing calendar designs for 2014 and we've seen some gorgeous 2015 calendars already. This one is no exception. Created by San Francisco based designer, illustrator and painter Annica Lydenberg, it'll certainly make you laugh. Including the most absurd non-denominational REAL holidays around, this year includes such occasions as 'Stay Home Because You’re Well Day' and 'Extraterrestrial Visitor Day.'
If time has run away with you and you don't want to have to worry about something arriving on time, why not buy a magazine subscription? It's a thoughtful, last minute gift that will last all year round!
Our gift magazine subscriptions can be set up immediately, you can send your own personalised e-card and recipients even have the choice to switch to another magazine if they see something they'd prefer.
Take a look at the magazines available and hurry up and get that last minute gift organised...
03. TADO Star Wars toys
You'll want these Star Wars design toys on your desk
We're huge fans of Mike and Katie – aka TADO. Creating fun and inspiring designs, they constantly showcase their playful side in their output and here they've produced some inspiring design toys for your desk based on one of the greatest movie series' ever.
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"The production process has been a very long one," the duo explain, "with a huge amount of revisions and approvals to make sure the characters were aligned to the correct style guides, etc – it's definitely been a learning curve for us all! We're really happy with how they turned out and we even managed to keep a few little TADO-type details that people might spot." See the toys in more detail here.
Keeping a diary can be the best way to stay on top of projects and feel positive about the future. But the team over at Asbury & Asbury have decided to go in a different direction and create The Perpetual Disappointments Diary.
Featuring demotivational proverbs and sections including Notable Deaths, Apology Note templates and Bank Insecurity Questions, this is sure to raise an ironic smile. See it in more detail here.
Notepad giant Moleskine has teamed up with Lego to bring you a gift that will please anyone who has a thing for Lego art. There are five notepads in the series, coming in a choice of white, red, blue or black, with a real Lego plate embedded onto the notebook covers. They're also decorated with sketches of Lego bricks and figures, and you can sketch your own Lego avatar using the guide printed on the inside endpapers.
Cult Movie cards are a celebration of those movies and characters that will forever live on in the hearts of fans. Hand-drawn by Human After All creative director Paul Willoughby, the cards feature characters from The Shining, Pulp Fiction, Fifth Element and more.
Baron Fig is a new kind of notebook that's been designed with an underlying philosophy of simplicity, usefulness and community. There's three books available, each with a different type of paper - Blank, Ruled, or Dot Grid, all made from high quality, acid-free fine grain paper, allowing you to archive them without fear of degradation. Plus for each Confidant notebook you buy, they'll plant a tree.
08. Page Turner Lamp
Turn the page to reveal new doodles on a daily basis
The Page Turner Lamp allows you to customise your own desk lamp on a daily basis by doodling on the pages around it. Coming in two different lamp shade colours, white and red, you can start each day with a new inspirational doodle. So whether you're in the mood for swirls, characters, geometric shapes or anything else, you can tailor your lamp to suit your daily mood and creative stance.
It's The Simpsons in Lego form! Comprising of six mini figurines - Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Maggie and Ned Flanders - along with The Simpsons family home, it features over 2,500 bricks and is unlike any other Lego set we've ever seen. Still not convinced? Here are 10 reasons it's the perfect gift!
Looking for a gif that's more oriented to actual design work? Well, if your friend or loved one is signed up to the Creative Cloud, and uses a tablet to draw or design, there's no better gift than Adobe's new digital stylus and ruler, released this year.
Optimised for software like Illustrator CC 2014 and Photoshop CC 2014, they're available as a set and require an iPad (4th generation), iPad Air, iPad Mini or iPad Mini with Retina display to work with.
Next page: 10 more brilliant gift ideas
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