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What a Graphic Designer Really Wants as a Gift for Christmas

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The air is chillier, snow is falling, and Christmas is coming! We love giving gifts here at Digital-Tutors and we want to help you figure out the best gift to get the graphic designer in your life. We've asked you and our graphic designers what they wish they'd get as a gift under the tree this year and we're sharing our findings with you! Keep in mind that graphic design is a pretty diverse field. While a lot of the things on this list will appeal to most designers, it's important to remember that everyone's different! While some of these gifts might not apply as much to your friend who only likes to only work digitally, there are other gifts listed that someone who's interested in different media would love.   Pop culture pixelized character design Stuff from Threadless.com From less than $10 to $49 Threadless features designs on t-shirts and other products that are created by independent artists and then voted on by its members. Threadless does what they do to help support unknown artists since their designs, once put on a shirt, will get massive exposure. There are so many awesome designs available that it might be hard to pick just one! Different color and types of moleskines Moleskine Notebooks From $9.95 All designers need to break away from the digital world sometimes, whether it's to take notes at meetings or just quickly draw out some ideas. Moleskine Notebooks are high quality and are simple, but beautiful. One of our favorites is the Evernote version. Anything that needs to be hand written can be instantly shared, synced, tagged and stored. The Android version of the app even includes a widget that will bring the Smart Notebook right on the phone's interface. Moleskine offers a bunch of limited edition notebooks that sport pop culture stuff like Star Wars or Mickey Mouse.   Pantone Chip USB Flash Drive $13.99 (4GB) to  $41.99 (16GB) Any designer will quickly recognize this Pantone color chip design on this USB flash drive. It'll be a stylish way for the designer you know to easily store their portfolio or any design comps they might be working on.   Calligraphy Kit: A Complete Kit for Beginners $19.99 Some graphic designers are interested in other forms of design. Maybe they'd like to try their hand at calligraphy. This Beginner Calligraphy kit comes with everything someone might need to get started in calligraphy.   Lamy pen with turquoise ink A Fancy Fountain Pen $28 Designers do a bunch of drawing and writing every day. A great pen would be appreciated. One pen that's especially fond to many in our office is the Lamy Safari Fountain Pen. You could elevate this gift a little by purchasing a converter ($4.50) and bottle of ink ($8.75) to go along with the Lamy.   2015 Typography Calendar $29 Help the graphic designer in your life start 2015 off right with a Typography Calendar produced by Studio Hinrichs. The calendar features 12 typefaces with descriptions of each one. All major holidays and birthdays of the type designers are included.   Comparison of Communication Arts subscriptions Communication Arts Subscription Starting at $30 a year Communication Arts magazine is a highly respected place for inspirations for all kinds of artists. Basically anyone that's involved with visual communication would appreciate the high quality of art that's displayed every month in Communication Arts. A one-year subscription can be purchased for either just the digital edition or a print and digital edition.   AIGA Membership Starting at $50 a year AIGA is the largest professional associations of designers. According to their website, they're "committed to advancing design as a professional craft, strategic  advantage and vital cultural force." Encourage the Graphic Designer in your life to get involved with their community by purchasing them a year long membership. A membership includes things like event discounts, an Annual Survey of Design Salaries, access to webinars created with AIGA partners and newsletters.   Intuos Creative Stylus $99.95 The Intous Creative Stylus is compatible with iPad Mini and iPad 3 and later. It's a stylus that will work with creative apps that have Wacom's technology already integrated, like Sketchbook Pro for iPad and Bamboo Paper.The battery lasts for over 150 hours. It's intended to be used on the go, so it comes with a carrying case that has room for an extra battery and nibs.   Silhouette cameo with cut outs Silhouette Machine Starting at $179.99 Silhouettes are electronic cutting machines. There are two options available, the Silhouette Cameo and the Silhouette Portrait. You can think of Silhouette's as a printer that cuts paper instead of prints it. The machines make it possible for designers to simply cut out their creations. The uses for a machine like this are really endless.   Cintiq 13HD Creative Pen Display $999 This tablet works well with any Mac or PC, which you'll still need to get this to work. You can think of it as a monitor that you can write on.   Cintiq Companion Cintiq Companion $1999 The Cintiq Companion appeals to not combines the tablet with the mobility of a Windows 8 tablet. Any digital artist would go crazy if they unwrapped one of these awesome machines. They're especially helpful for graphic designers who do a lot of digital drawing.