‘Tis the season for gift giving, and as always, we’ve got you covered with gift ideas for your own wish list, or for the other UX/UI designers and creatives in your life. From office setup essentials and sustainably designed goods, to gag gifts that make you smile...you’ll find the perfect gift in our annual holiday gift guide.
Contents
- Designed For Good
- For the Home or Remote Office
- Pen, Paper, & Everything In Between
- Let’s Get Techy
- Games to Fuel Creativity
- Relax & Rejuvenate
- Designs That Make You Smile
Designed For Good
Traditional dryer sheets—while they may make your clothes soft and smell good—are loaded with harsh and damaging chemicals. Try Dryer Balls instead.
Shampoo and Conditioner Bars are more environmentally friendly and more effective than their traditional bottled counterparts for a variety of reasons. For one, you’ll cut down on your plastic waste. More potent ingredients also mean less water usage to rinse your hair. They’re also not liquid, so they’re travel friendly!
Bamboo is an extremely sustainable and fast-growing plant that absorbs 2x more carbon dioxide and generates 30% more oxygen than most plants and trees.This Bamboo Laptop Stand is portable and lightweight, perfect for elevating your laptop when you’re on-to-go.
This Cork & Leather Office Desk Pad is made from organic cork and heavy-duty leather, making it the perfect gift for conscientious creatives, or simply anyone who appreciates thoughtful design.
At this point we all know that traditional straws are not biodegradable and are terrible for the environment, our oceans and sea life in particular. That’s why everyone needs Reusable Collapsible Metal Drinking Straw.
For the Home or Remote Office
You’re likely still working from home, and any good virtual communicator knows you must be front-lit. Chances are your remote or home office setup could benefit from the soft glow the Lume Cube Video Conference Lighting Kit provides.
The beautifully designed Dusen Dusen Everybody Tissue Box Cover is a great daily reminder of all the faces you’re designing for.
Eliminate wasteful sticky notes and replace with a Glass Desktop Computer Pad for reminders and quick note taking.
Maybe you moved during the pandemic and miss the smell of home, or you're eager to travel but aren’t quite ready to do so yet. You can bring the scents of the world to you or your loved ones with Homesick Candles.
Prints like these from Susan Kare are great for office inspiration. She says of this watch print, “The Watch icon is a wait cursor—shown to indicate a need for patience…” a great reminder for us all.
Pen, Paper, & Everything In Between
The Horizon Ruler is a wallet-sized sketching tool that can travel with you everywhere, taking your ideation and low-fi wireframes to the next level.
The ReMarkable is such a handy tool for your sketching and note-taking needs. The fact that sketches and notes can then be uploaded and saved is a huge selling point alone!
The Design Works Ink Notebooks are split into three sections: lined, blank, and dotted. You can also get a lot of matching stationery!
Each page of the One Line a Day: A Five-Year Memory Book includes an entry for five successive years, allowing you to revisit previous thoughts on a specific day and reflect on change and progress since then.
This portable Small Dry Erase White Board is great for people who don't have room for a massive whiteboard but also don't just want a magnetic one.
Let’s Get Techy
This Portable Monitor will give you extra screen space to do remote work and designing, wherever you are.
Creative people can be forgetful at times—we’ve got a lot going on up there! A tracking device, like the Apple AirTag or Tile, can be attached to keys, stuck in wallets, backpacks, or anything else of importance that might be prone to “misplacement.”
Whether you’re speaking at a virtual conference, appearing on a podcast, conducting remote UX research interviews, or just in a Zoom meeting, the Blue Yeti Nano microphone will elevate your audio to a professional level.
This new iteration of the polaroid camera gives the Fujifilm Instax Mini a classic appearance—an upgrade from the plastic, bright, bulky look.
Games to Fuel Creativity
Take a break from the screen for a good interactive brain teaser with Puzzle Box - Escape Artist. Once the lockbox is cracked, the player will be rewarded with a gift card redeemable at tons of online retailers!
These Jiggy Puzzles feature unique art made by women artists that are totally frameable. Each puzzle comes in a reusable glass jar and includes a tube of puzzle glue. Not to mention the fact that puzzles in general are great to alleviate stress and also improve short-term memory.
A game of Charades engages you creatively without the use of anything tactile—step away from the pencil, stylus, and keyboard, and instead use your hands for show.
LEGOs are not just for kids. Especially the LEGO Architecture kits, which are great long term projects. Warning: may result in extreme satisfaction and awe.
Hey Robot is a hilarious party game where teams compete to get a smart speaker (like Alexa or Google Home) to say specific words. It's the first board game designed for humans and AI to play together—effectively making AI your creative partner.
Relax & Rejuvenate
The Holiday Advent Calendar Tea Set has elegant holiday packaging perfect for any tea lover.
Creative folks love the UX/UI design of both Headspace and Calm—a subscription would make the perfect self-care gift for anyone who struggles to unplug.
If the creative copywriting alone isn’t enough to make you covet Sephora’s Holy Sheet! limited-edition holiday set of 20 best selling skincare products, the fact that they’re vegan and come in recyclable packaging will.
Does your coffee or tea need to be reheated frequently? Well, say goodbye to lukewarm drinks with the Ember Mug—a temperature controlled smart mug, powered by an app and batteries.
Do you struggle with tech neck? The Nekteck Massage Pillow can help.
Designs That Make You Smile
Evoke the nostalgia of an elementary school cafeteria with this Sandwich Cutter and Sealer.
These Succulent Tealight Candles are so gorgeous you probably won’t ever want to actually burn them.
It’s hard to believe that single use cameras are now a novelty, but there’s something so vintage about not being able to take one million photos before achieving the right shot. Embrace the concept of “there are no mistakes in art.”
Leave yourself, your roommate, partner, family member, friend, or co-worker a colorful note using the Melissa & Doug Scratch Art Rainbow Mini Notes. They’ll cherish it forever, or at least until your next rainbow note.
Bring back the joy of Chia Pets with Chia Pet Bob Ross. The fun never stops with ch-ch-ch-chia pets!
We hope you've found this gift guide helpful—enjoy your holiday season!
If you’re interested in exploring a career in UX/UI Design, check out our career-change accelerator program, UX Academy.
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