The ultimate gift guide for graphic design nerds

Like any creative person, graphic designers have a pretty strong sense of what they like and don’t like, and that can make your job as a gift-giver pretty dang difficult. Lucky for you, we’ve talked to a lot of graphic designers over the years, and we’ve used that intel to create a shortlist of gifts to help the graphic designer in your life get organized, get creative, and get inspired (and it will help you get gifting). 

A poster worthy of hanging

Movie posters from Posteritati, price varies

Give the gift of visual inspiration with an original poster from movie poster gallery Posteritati. Its online shop has hundreds of original and vintage posters for sale from their collection, which spans over a century of cinema.

Search by style tags like graphic design, Memphis group, mid-century modern, minimalist, typographic, pop art, psychedelic, and more. The collection has just about any cinematic or design icon you can think of: Both the Alfred Hitchhock and Saul Bass fan will find their way to the vibrantly saturated Vertigo poster. Other notables include Cecil Beaton, Cindy Sherman, Milton Glaser, Paul Rand, Saul Bass, and contemporary designer Akiko Stehrenberger.

The tactility of an analog work in our hyperdigital world, with type you just know was hand-set and X-acto’d on a drafting board, makes it that much more special and covetable. Prices range from $40-$2,500.

An upgraded calendar

Spectrum wall planner, $48

A colorful take on the minimalist wall planner, this oversize calendar from Poketo gives the discerning graphic designer in your life all the real estate they need to plot out projects, appointments, and to-do’s—it also doubles as wall decor. 

Each month has a different punchy pastel or primary color background that’s punctuated by months and dates set in a bright white sans serif. The calendar is open-dated, so you fill out the dates yourself and can start using it any time. Start 2024 organized and optimistic with a little splash of color—leave all black for the clothes.

A chic pencil

Blackwing pencils, $27

These pencils are a drafting classic, and make everyday sketching and writing into a little luxury. For graphic designers, try the Blackwing 602, which has a firm, smooth graphic core and was the pencil of choice for John Steinbeck and Chuck Jones, according to the company. For an extra-firm core, try the Blackwing Natural. Designers will appreciate the thoughtfulness of the gift box, which doubles as a pencil cup. Both come as a set of 12. Pair the pencils with the Spectrum wall planner for penciling in appointments, or with a notebook for day-to-day sketching and tasking. 

A ruler to rule them all

Type ruler, $14

If a pocket protector is the tell of a nerd in the generalist sense, the type ruler is the tell of a true graphic design nerd. This type ruler by California-based design studio Hoodzpah has already sold out once, and designers have gone absolutely “feral” for it, the company says in an Instagram post.

A type ruler is a Swiss Army knife of sorts: designers can use it to measure physical type in printed ephemera and layouts, measure line weights out in the wild, make ratio correct thumbnails, and as a straight edge, according to the company. If a graphic designer pulls one of these bad boys out of their desk drawer (or dare I suggest, pocket) you know they’re the real deal. 

A better magic eight ball

Pocket art director, $17

Introduce some chance into the creative process with this 20-sided die from the Pretend Store aptly called the Pocket Art Director; a magic eight ball of decision-making. This die, if not always offering up the most practical advice, is sure to at least start to shift a designer’s headspace when they hit a creative wall. Why is it always “strategy” and never “serendipity,” anyway? 

A few pieces of key advice on offer include “bump it up 5%,” “add more white space,” and “approved,” which is helpful for those designers who don’t know how to leave well enough alone. As the product description says, the die offers “everything you need to take the work to the next level except for the education, the talent, and the gusto.” That’s up to them.

A pricey pep talk

Cameo from a Mad Men cast member, price varies

Order your fave graphic design nerd an EOY existential crisis or, if you’re feeling kinder, some start of your encouragement with a holiday greeting from actor Joel Murray, who played Mad Men’s Freddy Rumsen, the senior copywriter at the show’s fictional ad agency Sterling Cooper. Murray is on Cameo, the personalized video message service, with a current rate of $39. 

“Do the work, Don,” Rumsen told Don Draper in season 7 episode 4 of the show. Murray can say the same (or any other choice words) to the graphic designer in your life. Here’s the full list of Mad Men actors available for cameos, at varying rates. 

Glasses to look the part

Cubitts, price varies

Are you even a graphic designer if you don’t have statement glasses? These frames by British company Cubitts will do the trick. The company’s strong and sometimes experimental silhouettes come in a range of colors, patterns, and bespoke shapes that will tell any onlooker the wearer has seen the documentary Helvetica without having to say a word. 

Truly though, these lenses are works of art that anyone who values craft will appreciate. Plus, all the brand’s frames are priced at $200, so if you don’t have FSA money to burn before the year ends, they’re relatively affordable anytime you’re looking to buy. (Plus, illustrator Malika Favre described the brand’s sunglasses as “bonkers” on the design inspo-meets-wishlist Instagram account she co-runs with designer George Wu, and that’s all the approval I need.)