10 Gift Ideas for Creative Professionals

Posted: 13 Dec 2013 02:00 AM PST

The Christmas and holiday season is upon us this year.

Buying gifts for someone can be a tricky task, especially for creatives who are ever-so-fussy with their stuff and are thus hard to buy for.

In this post are my ten gift suggestions for creative professionals, e.g. Designers, illustrators, artists, web developers, photographers, online marketers, bloggers or simply someone who appreciates well-designed products.

The Nifty MiniDrive

Joli Originals

The Nifty MiniDrive allows you to add extra storage to your Apple MacBook via the SD card slot. It’s non-intrusive, secure, doesn’t stick out of the side of the computer like USB drives do, and has 64GB storage capacity.

This makes a wonderful gift for anyone who owns a MacBook, especially one of the new models with solid-state drives that generally lack file storage space for digital creatives.

The Nifty MiniDrive is available for about $49 (list price on the site is €35).

COBURNS iPad Stand

The creators of the Coburns iPad stand focused on designing a minimalist iPad stand with a clean look. Built with organic materials that complement the refined feel of the iPad, these stands would make a wonderful gift for anyone who owns an iPad. It costs $25.

Dotgrid.co Notebooks

Dotgrid.co is a family-run business based in London, UK. We make dot grid books for designers and illustrators. The subtle dot grid is perfect for sketching, wireframing and jotting down ideas. Prices start at around $10 (£6).

Full disclosure: I’m a co-founder at Dotgrid.co.

Craft Coffee

If your gift receiver is a fan of great-quality craft coffee — many creative professionals are obsessed with coffee or tea — a coffee subscription that delivers coffee regularly to their home or office would make them incredibly happy.

Craft Coffee is based in the US but there are similar brands all over the world such as Pact Coffee in the UK and Misto Box in Australia.

Joli Originals

Joli Originals produces handmade Italian leather sleeves for iPhone, iPad and MacBooks.

Joli Originals is run by couple Jolien and Harold out of their design studio in Amsterdam. They’re passionate about designing and producing elegant, classy sleeves for most Apple products. Prices start at about $40 (list price on the site is €29).

Inkbug

Inkbug allows you to turn your Instagram photos into beautiful little prints and stickers. Users can connect their Instagram accounts to Inkbug, choose how they would like to print their Instagram photos, and then select the photos they want to get printed.

Prices start at about $30 (list price on the site is £18) for 45 prints with free worldwide delivery on all orders.

Full disclosure: I’m a co-founder at Inkbug.

Beardbrand

Beardbrand was founded by Eric Bandholz after he realized there was no real organization to represent beards. Based in the US, Beardbrand sells products such as beard oils and grooming kits. Anything from here would make a wonderful gift for your bearded friends.

Port–au–Prince Papier–mâché

Founded by a husband and wife, Port–au–Prince Paper Makers is dedicated to creating jobs for the people of Haiti. They hand-craft papier–mâché wall ornaments that will add interest to any office or workspace.

Custom SLR C-Loop Strap Mount

If your gift receiver owns a camera, whether as a hobbyist or a professional, the C-Loop camera strap mount by Custom SLR is a brilliant upgrade.

It allows the photographer to mount their strap to the bottom of the camera instead of the top, eliminating the issue where the strap gets in the way of shots when rotating your camera from portrait to landscape. Available for $40.

Saddleback Leather Co. Desk Pad Set

The Saddleback desk pad set is made out of real leather and is a great way to add a bit of style and class to a workspace. The set includes a mouse pad, a monitor pad and a large desk pad. Not only does it look great, it adds comfort to a desk too. Available for $309.

Happy Holidays This 2013!

I hope this list of gift ideas helped you out.

On behalf of Six Revisions and my co-authors here on the site, I would like to say that we hope you have a festive holiday season and a Merry Christmas!

About the Author

Callum Chapman is a mobile and web user interface designer. He has worked with many internationally known brands as well his own projects such as Dotgrid.co. You can follow Callum on Twitter at @callumchapman.