It’s that (most wonderful) time of the year again. The holiday season is upon us, and gift buying is likely already in full swing. We’ve put together this holiday gift guide for design thinkers and creatives to help you with your gift-giving.
Whether you’re looking for a gift for the UI/UX designer on your team, your graphic designer roommate, your design-thinking brother-in-law, or for yourself, we hope you’ll find these gift ideas helpful.
Books for Designers
Arcade Game Typography: The Art of Pixel Type
An Amazon #1 New Release, Arcade Game Typography: The Art of Pixel Type, showcases eclectic typography from hit games such as Super Sprint, Pac-Man, After Burner, Marble Madness, Shinobi, and more gems from the 70s, 80s and 90s. A book that likely qualifies under “something I’d never buy for myself, but would not-so-secretly love to have,” it’s sure to please the nerd that lives deep inside.
Do the F*cking Work: Lowbrow Advice for High-Level Creativity
Sticking with the f-bomb theme of 2019 (see: Everything Is F*cked: A Book About Hope by Mark Manson, The Hidden Power of F*cking Up by The Try Guys, etc.) Do the F*cking Work: Lowbrow Advice for High-Level Creativity, is f*cking gold. With nuggets of wisdom written to teach you to embrace the journey of creation—trying, failing, learning, and failing again, this book provides 100 beautifully packaged pieces of advice for creatives. (Available for pre-order: release date December 30th 2019.)
Food Is Fiction: Stories on Food and Design
Designers transform food into products that draw us in, inform us, and seduce us. Food Is Fiction takes a look at how food industry echoes the spirit of the times and anticipates social changes. This book will make you wonder, what is the future of food?
User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play
In User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play, the hidden rules of the designed world over the last century are revealed. After reading this book, you’ll never interact with technology the same way again.
How to Have Great Ideas: A Guide to Creative Thinking
This book from John Ingledew will help any designer change their constraints, and discover unexpected sources of problem-solving inspiration.