Are you looking for the best gift ideas for graphic designers? Do you want to give them something unique they will love?

Video games, flowers, cooking equipment, chocolates, and clothes make great gifts for many people. But what do graphic designers want?

If you want the answer, you’ve come to the right place, as I’ve listed the perfect gift ideas for graphic designers below. Gifting these will make you their favorite person.

26 Best Gift Ideas for Graphic Designers

Here are the different gift ideas. I created a huge array that you can choose depending on whether you are gifting a friend, relative or a loved one.

Drawing Tablets Like Wacom or iPad with a Stylus

Most designers work on laptops, but tablets have come a long way now and offer a better experience. They make it easy for designers to draw freehand on a screen. 

There are multiple pricing options for drawing tablets, depending on the budget. At the low end, you have Wacom Tablets like Wacom One. You connect these to your computer and draw on the pad, but view it on your computer. You also have high-end Wacom tablets where you draw and view it on the tablet itself. 

I used a Wacom One at the beginning but switched to an iPad later. Several apps make it possible to draw quality illustrations on an iPad. You also have an iPad that’s 12.9 inches now that is more comfortable to draw on.

Software

You can draw on iPads and other tablets because of easy to use Apps. A popular one is Procreate that is made just for drawing. But there are others such as Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Draw that can help with drawing and designing. 

You can purchase Adobe Illustrator alone or take the Creative Cloud package from Adobe. You’ll get other design software such as Photoshop, Lightroom, Acrobat, and so many more, along with Illustrator when you take the package. They are all essential in designing. 

Procreate is on the cheaper side as you pay a one-time fee of $10 for life.  But it only works on devices with iOS such as iPhone and iPad. It doesn’t work on Mac.

Creative Cloud is on the higher side, and you need to pay a recurring monthly or annual fee. But it is worth it. It’s cheaper when you purchase individual apps, and you need just one or two. But if you need the whole package, Create Cloud works out cheaper. It works on all Apple, Android, and Windows devices.

It doesn’t always have to be software related to drawing or design. You can also gift other software for running a graphic design business. This could range from social media management tools to accounting software to project management tools that improve workflow.

Laptop

If a graphic designer uses a regular laptop for their design work, they will probably want to upgrade. 

My first laptop was from HP. It was good with features such as graphics cards and worked well for doing everyday work, playing games, and watching films. But when I installed graphic design software, I realized it was lacking. It would slow down a lot and crash. It couldn’t handle the requirements of Illustrator and Photoshop. 

So, I upgraded to a Dell laptop. It was better, but not great. I got the best results when I upgraded even further to a MacBook. 

So, if you want to gift them a laptop, get a MacBook Air or Pro. A 16 inch pro with its speed and screen size is ideal for design. 

If a new laptop is too pricey you can buy a used MacBook. But if you take this route make sure you get it assessed at a laptop repair center before you buy. As a lot of scammers can trick you with a bad one.

Printer

Graphic designers need to take top-quality printouts not just for themselves but also for their clients. It will make their work look better and grow their business. 

A top quality printer with a scanner would be a great idea. If they already have a good printer, you can just buy cartridges or paper. 

Storage drives

Design work, such as videos and images, occupy a lot of space. Laptops, tablets, and cloud drives get filled up quickly. This is why designers stock gadgets like hard drives. 

You will make them happy if you gift an external hard disk. Something with at least 1TB space and is shockproof like this one would be ideal. 

Portable power charger

Tablets and laptops have powerful batteries these days and can last for hours, but not forever. A portable power charger helps us work for longer when we don’t have access to a power source. 

Gifting a portable power charger would be a good idea. The power charge you select should have a strong battery and charge fast. 

Here’s a good one from INIU.

Headphones

You could also gift designers headphones. Many like to listen to music while they work. It helps them zone in. Music can also improve creativity. 

Headphones can also help them better communicate with their clients. Make sure you pick one with Bluetooth and noise-canceling features. 

Speakers

Headphones aren’t your only option; portable Bluetooth speakers are also popular gifts for designers. 

If the designer already has a headphone, you can gift a portable speaker. They might like this better as they can enjoy this gift with more people. 

You have a wide range of Bluetooth speakers that are also shock and waterproof. 

Coffee Mugs 

Just like the “World’s Greatest Boss” mugs, you also have funny mugs for graphic designers like this one on Amazon and other sites.

Wouldn’t a designer get a chuckle out of this?

Here’s another good one. 

Sketchbooks like Moleskine

A lot of designers won’t directly draw on their tablets. They’ll prefer to draw on a piece of paper, scan it and import it to their tablet and then trace over it. 

Some will also use it to store ideas. So, you can gift them a good sketchbook like this one from Moleskine. 

You could also buy a good drawing pencil or pen to accompany it. 

Dot grids

Not all designers and illustrators like using sketchbooks for drawing. Some prefer to reserve sketchbooks for taking notes and using another type of notebook called dot grids for drawing. In dot grids, instead of distracting lines, you have dots. 

Source: Amazon

These offer a guide while drawing, but don’t obstruct the appearance of the illustration too much. Some designers also like to use them while writing or sketching fonts. Dot grids are available in various sizes and quality. You can pick one depending on what your friend or relative uses most or buy different types for different purposes.

Hand lettering or calligraphy kits

If the graphic designer is just starting and wants to get better at creating fonts, you can gift them a hand lettering kit. The kits usually contain instruction books, workbooks, templates, stencils, pens, and other materials. 

Source: Amazon

Hand lettering kits, also known as calligraphy kits, make great gifts for kids showing an interest in design or drawing. 

Designers can not only use the fonts in their work, but also sell them. It can help them earn passive income. There’s a huge demand for unique typography.

Paper tablet

A paper tablet is a tablet, but it’s very different from the usual ones. One thing is that they are thinner, and when you write on them, it feels like paper. The surface isn’t slippery. There’s a bit of friction, just like on paper, which makes it better to write. 

You can also import PDFs onto the tablet and write and draw on them. If your designer friend already has a tablet, you can give this instead. reMarkable has a popular paper table. 

Mouse

A mouse is also a good idea. Designing with the laptop’s mouse can be a pain. So, many designers use a mouse. 

You can gift a quality ergonomic mouse they can use for a long while.

Foldable portable table

If you feel that your designer friend’s workspace needs an upgrade, you can get her or him a table. But instead of getting a regular one, get a foldable table that is easy to store. 

It is a plus if it can transform into a standing desk too. As standing desks are popular these days and can give the designer a break from sitting down and working all day. 

If they already have a comfortable desk, you can get them an ergonomic chair. 

Touch gloves

Regular gloves can keep hands warm and snuggly, but they aren’t the best for designers as they don’t always work on touch screens and can make it hard to use, especially when they are on the go. Some can even affect flexibility. 

This is why you should buy special touch gloves for designers. There’s a wide variety of them. They will not only keep hands warm but will also make it easy to work. 

They have special fingertips that offer friction on touchpads to help you work. 

Some, like this one, even make it easy to draw. Look around online and try to find one that will suit the person you are gifting it to. 

Online courses

People don’t have to spend hundreds and thousands of dollars and get a degree nowadays to acquire design skills. There are many excellent online design courses they can take from their homes’ comfort for a fraction of the cost. 

On the low end, you have courses on sites like Udemy. Then there are subscriptions such as Lynda, Skillshare, and Nma.art. 

And on the high end, you have online courses that cost several thousands of dollars. 

Computer glasses 

Spending a lot of time staring into the computer screen isn’t good for your health. This is why you should gift your designer friend a computer glass. They will reduce the effects of the blue light and help their eyes. 

You could also get them a set of pre-sleep glasses they can use before they sleep as blue light can affect the quality of sleep too.

Lapdesk

Lapdesk is a great gift too. 

You get very good lap desks like where there are sockets to store extra items. They can also protect the lap from the laptop heat. 

Books

There are several great design books. You could gift one or a few. 

Another option is to gift them a Scribd subscription. It costs $8.99 a month. You could get them an annual subscription, and they can read unlimited books on any topic they like, not just design. 

Digital Assets

Graphic artists and web designers are always on the lookout for design assets that will make their lie easier. So, you can buy high-quality digital products such as typefaces, templates, stock photos, add-ons, presets on sites like Creative Market and Etsy.

Stencils

Stencils that make it easy for designers to draw a letter or illustration will make a great gift. You can buy these from a store or create something unique. There are also sites where you can purchase custom stencils.

Pantone

Pantone is a color matching system. They developed it in 1963. Before Pantone was available, people used different color systems for different types of mediums. This lead to a lot of inconsistencies in colors. But Pantone’s appearance decreased inconsistencies as its color coding system shows people how different colors appear, whether in print or online or on a billboard (painted). 

Many graphic designers rely on this system to ensure they get colors right for their clients. 

Pantone is available in two forms. A physical version consisting of cards and an online version called Pantone Connect. You can access the online version on the web or through apps. There’s also an Adobe Creative Cloud integration. 

If the person you’re gifting doesn’t have the Pantone system, you can gift them one. It will help them serve clients better. 

T-shirts

Depending on the designer’s preference, you can buy a t-shirt. They always make great gifts. You can either buy a regular minimalist t-shirt or a more colorful one made specifically for designers. There are sites like Amazon where you can find many t-shirts with puns and other fun things. 

Christmas gifts

During Christmas time, a lot of new gifts and offers spring up. You can find Christmas versions of many of the products listed above. Some companies also give away free gifts and discounts. To find the best ones, make sure you jump in early and take advantage of all these offers. There are a lot of discounts during Black Friday too. Even some software companies such as Adobe offer discounts.

Make something

If you want to present a completely unique gift, you should flex your creative muscles and make something from scratch. If it’s something design-related they will be happy that you took the time to please them.

What do you think is the best gift idea for graphic designers?

I hope you found a gift idea from the above list that will make you their favorite person in the world. If you haven’t, I recommend that you go to stationery to look for gifts they might like.