Never know what to buy artists? Discover the best gifts for graphic designers of 2023 and surprise them with presents they’ll love. We’ve gathered a wide range of funny, cool, practical, expensive, and cheap options so you can find something that fits both your budget and the person you’re shopping for.
Not everyone has the budget for a Wacom Cintiq, and for you, I recommend the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro Pen Display. This is the pen display that my partner uses for his art and he’s extremely happy with it.
It’s not as high-end as Wacom but it has almost everything you could ask for in a pen display and much of it matches the Cintiq’s specs. The pen can handle up to 60 degrees of tilt and has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity. There’s very little lag time for a natural feeling and the display features a full-laminated screen for reduced parallax (when the pen and cursor don’t quite match up).
On the left-hand side of the display is a line of buttons that they can customize by mapping them to whatever shortcuts they use the most which helps work more efficiently. This has been a huge time-saver for my partner.
My partner loves this thing. He’s said that it makes drawing more fun than he’s had in a long time when using his old graphic (no screen) tablet. His turnaround is faster and he’s found it puts less strain on his wrist.
This is not sponsored. I bought this myself and have had no contact with XP-Pen regarding this honest, personal review. I would buy it again.
If the graphic artist in your life likes to get crafty would love making their own t-shirts, greeting cards, mugs, hats, or other projects, get them the Cricut Explore Air 2. A more advanced form of die cutting machine, this digital cutting machine that opens up a world of projects they might not have thought possible from their home.
Using the user-friendly and free design software from Cricut, they can create their own designs and then cut them out with their Explore Air 2. The machine cuts over 100 different materials including vellum, heat-transfer vinyl, heat transfer sublimation ink paper, fabrics, and even leather. The Explore Air 2 can also write for you with the pen attachment for uniform, written text in over 370 font types.
I got a media sample of the Explore Air 2 last year, with no promise that I’d review it, and I definitely recommend this as a gift to any creative person in your life. They’ll have a ball with all the neat stuff they can create with their original artwork.
Let’s face it, we all run on coffee and this Nespresso VertuoPlus Coffee and Espresso Maker will bring coffeehouse drinks right into their kitchen. The machine has a long-lasting water reservoir and a large container for spent capsules so you don’t have to worry about refilling or emptying constantly. It works with both sizes of Nespresso pods so you can brew everything from single espressos to a 14-ounce cup of coffee.
Different sizes don’t require any extra work on your part either and the machine reads each pod’s barcode and makes the adjustments automatically. It comes with 30 pods of their most popular coffees. It also comes with the Aeroccino, which froths hot or cold milk for foamy coffeehouse-style drinks
The Nespresso VertuoPlus Deluxe has the same quality of extraction as the above machine but in a more compact machine.
In order to work on a pen display, artists wear Drawing Gloves which keep the part of their hand and fingers which touch the screen from dragging, smudging, or activating a touchscreen.
Because someone may spend hours wearing a glove every day, it’s always good to have a few extras so you always have a fresh glove. This set comes with two drawing gloves that are triple lined for cushion and comfort. They work for right or left-handed use and come in a range of sizes.
This “Because Clients” Wine Glass perfectly captures the mood after a long day’s work and any professional artist in your life would love this.
Clients give you so many reasons to drink I couldn’t even count them. High on the list is when a client knows exactly what they want despite your expert advice on why they should do something different–and then the client hates the result when you give them what they asked for.
Clients are headaches but they’ll be able to unwind with this 15-ounce glass.
These super-comfortable over-the-ear headphones have a rich sound with impressive bass tones. They’ve avoided that tinny effect that most headphones have and instead you’ve got this crystal clear experience. They’re extremely comfortable to wear for long hours without getting ear fatigue even when wearing glasses, making them perfect for digital artists.
It uses 5.0 Bluetooth connectivity and I’ve had zero issues pairing these to my phone and laptop. The Pampas uses a single toggle button which gives them a sleek, minimalist look. It’s surprisingly easy to use and intuitive. You move to the side to skip songs and up to increase the volume and so on. I’ve tested out their built-in mic and they sound clear to folks on the other end of calls.
The Pampas have astounding battery life with up to 30 hours of playtime. I have charged them once and used them for literal weeks and I haven’t had to charge them again. They don’t announce their battery state when you turn them on like some headphones so I don’t know how to gauge how low the battery is at any given time but that’s my one complaint.
I get sent a lot of media samples of headphones and these are, by far, the best sounding and most comfortable headphones I’ve ever used. I am very clear when accepting a sample that it is not a promise that I will write a positive review even write about it at all–that way I can objectively test out the product. And these are amazing headphones that I would recommend to anyone.
I’ll admit I’m not an audiophile, but the difference between these and headphones at around half the price is enormous. My partner has a much more decerning ear for music quality and he wants to steal these from me so that’s high praise.
This Magnetic Fidget Pen combines fun and practicality for a gift that everyone will love. It’s a pen to take notes and cross items off their to-do list, while able to stick to magnet-friendly metal for safekeeping, but it also breaks apart into 13 magnetic pieces that they can fidget with while trying to come up with the perfect logo idea or figure out why this kerning doesn’t look quite right.
The segments are great for twisting around while still in pen shape or for building different shapes by disassembling the pen. This way, they can always have a fidget toy with them anywhere it’s normal to have a pen. They also give you 10 connection metal balls that allow them to build even more complex shapes.
And if you’re thinking, doesn’t that mean the pen part is just a tiny centimeter long bit that will run out of in immediately–nope. The pieces are magnetic rings that fit around a standard ink insert. It comes with two pen refills for good measure.
It comes in several different colors from this colorful multichrome to a more refined black and silver.
I know it’s true and you know it’s true so celebrate it with this “I’m Silently Judging Your Font Choice” Mug. The design is printed on both sides of the ceramic mug and done with sublimation ink so it won’t chip or flake off.
The mug was printed in America and is both dishwasher and microwave-safe.
Or get them their own mug press machine so they can print their own designs.
The creative people in your life will love playing Starting Lines, a drawing board game that exercises their creativity and can lead to hours of laughs.
The game works by giving everyone the same meaningless line to sketch on their included paper. Then the group is given a theme (like “things people do for money”) and everyone must create a drawing out of their meaningless line that fits the theme as well as caption their drawing before the timer runs out. Every player starts with the same information but you end up with a table full of vastly different drawings.
Players vote for their favorite and you move on to the next round. I’ve played a digital version of a similar game with a group of friends and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard. It’s best for ages seven and up.
Kerning refers to the space between letters in typography. Like how the “K” in this shirt is farther apart from the rest of the work than the other letters. The shirt is a fun play off of “Do you even lift, bro?” and something all their graphic artist friends will get a kick out of.
It comes in five different colors (white, blue, pink, grey, and heather) as well as men’s, women’s, and youth styles.
The designer obsessed with fonts will love The Visual History of Type: A visual survey of 320 typefaces. It’s a hefty book at 672 pages and packed all sorts of fascinating information and history in typefaces going back to reproductions of the very first fonts. It’s writing in a very accessible style that isn’t too dry or lofty.
This is a coffee table book that anyone who does typography will adore.
The Nix Pro 2 Color Sensor can scan colors out in the world and through the app on a smartphone show the color’s RGB balance and hex number so they can choose that color for their digital art. It blocks ambient light to scan the color with its own built-in light source to get the most accurate read possible.
It’s not an essential tool of the trade but it’s a neat little toy they’ll have some fun playing with. They’ll be able to match the exact yellow of a sunflower or the bright red of an apple.
The device is small and rechargeable so they can throw it in their bag when they go out and use it on anything that inspires them. It stores and remembers 1,000 color scans. Plus Nix Pro devices are assembled and calibrated in Canada.
If this isn’t quite right, we’ve got a whole other post dedicated to helping you pick the best color sensor for you.
On the topic of gifts for graphic designers, professional graphic designer Nicole Glynn wrote to me that she’s “a sucker for pens and notebooks,” specifically dot grid notebooks like this Leuchtturm1917 A4 Master Slim Dotted Notebook.
Dot grid notebooks are perfect for graphic design sketching because they provide the guidance of lined notebooks without being too distracting for drawings. They allow you to make symmetrical designs without all the guesswork.
This Leuchtturm1917 notebook is thread-bound so it can open and lay flat without worrying that you’re breaking the binding on the spine. It uses quality 60-pound stock and has 121 numbered pages. There’s also a blank table of contents and a built-in pocket for papers.
The Wacom Cintiq is the Holy Grail of pen displays. It is the best of the best and a gift of a Cintiq is basically guaranteed to drop their jaws into the next zip code.
The display has a 23.6-inch 4K touchscreen that has a 99 percent match with Adobe’s RBG colors so they’re working with true to life color. The touchscreen allows for gesture and touch commands and it also comes with a remote that maps to frequently used shortcuts so they can work for efficiently.
The included Wacom Pro Pen 2 can recognize tilt up to 60 degrees and has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity. That’s unreal to me. The experience of drawing on this pen tablet feels like drawing on paper. There is no lag and it uses a laminated screen so the parallax is greatly reduced. There’s also a built-in stand for a more ergonomic angle.
If you want them to have what the top professionals use, it’s this. And if that’s not quite in your budget, they do make smaller versions like the Wacom Cintiq 16-Inch Pen Display.
Graphic artists, photographers, and any digital artists will get a real kick out of this “Oh, Crop” T-Shirt. We’ve all cropped something we didn’t mean to or on the wrong layer.
The play on words comes from the cropping tool which is pictured below. It’s available in men’s, women’s, and children’s cuts and in five different colors.
Get the artist in your life this Death Wish Coffee Gift Set because graphic designers are around 60 percent caffeine by weight. They pull long hours and burn through coffee and energy drinks to keep them going.
Death Wish Coffee is billed as the strongest coffee in the world with absurd caffeine content. Valhalla Java also boasts a high caffeine content but with a focus on flavor as well. They’ll get a kick out of the packaging and it’s a gift they’ll definitely use.
If they like to journal, do sketches in traditional mediums, or make notes to themselves, get them this Pantone 10-Notebook Set. It comes with 10 four-inch by 5.5-inch notebooks in a rainbow of colors.
The covers of each notebook are styled to look just like a Pantone swatch and include the color’s Pantone number. The pages have a dot grid making them great for writing or drawing.
It doesn’t get truer than this Graphic Designer Naming Conventions Mug. No matter how many times you think you’re finished with an image either you or the client spots something that needs to be edited.
The 10-ounce ceramic mug is both microwave and dishwasher-safe.
Having your pen display at the right angle can make a huge difference so they’ll appreciate this Max Smart Drawing Tablet. According to OSHA, having your monitor the proper height and angle is key to avoiding neck, eye, and back strain.
This adjustable stand has six levels of incline to choose from and folds completely flat for storage and transport. It’s compatible with drawing tablets up to 17 inches across so you’ll want to make sure you know about how big their pen display. This won’t work with a massive 22-inch Cintiq but will work with the X-Pen 15.6 Pro above.
It also works with regular tablets and laptops. The open design improves ventilation and prevents overheating. The stand is available in black or red.
Datacolor’s SpyderX Pro is a tool that helps you calibrate the colors on your monitor to they are accurate. Monitors aren’t perfect so the same green on one screen will look different on another screen and even different again when printed.
Graphic artists need to know that they are using the most accurate, true version of their colors because their work will be spread far and wide across many computers and print media. This device will put their minds at ease.
The SpyderX Pro, made for designers and photographers, calibrates the colors and adjusts them with a simple one-click step. Plus they offer a before and after comparison so they can see the difference on your screen.
Creative Block is a set of 100 cards with strategies, exercises, and advice to beat art-block.
Art-Block is real and it can be annoying on a personal level and devastating on a professional scale when your creative block is keeping you from designing. And even worse, creative blocks can affect artists’ self-worth and self-esteem.
Each card in this attractive wooden cube box gives a different suggestion for overcoming your creative block to get the inspiration juices flowing so they can start creating again.
They’ll have a ball with Pantone: The Game, a unique board game that challenges players to create representations of a given character or icon with only Pantone color swatches.
Recreating a well-known character with only shapes and colors with challenge them artistically and lead to lots of laughs. The game is meant for two to 20 players ages eight and up.
Help them turn their creativity into a small business with a 5-In-1 Swing Away Heat Transfer Press Set allowing them to print their designs onto merchandise. These presses are perfect for inkjet heat transfers, vinyl heat transfers, and sublimation heat transfers. In fact, sublimation will only work with a specialized press and can’t be used with a home iron.
This set goes way beyond a simple t-shirt press. It comes with all the attachments to print on t-shirts and other large fabric pieces, baseball caps, coffee mugs, and plates. They’ll be able to create and sell all sorts of neat products with this one system.
Your freelance graphic designer will really appreciate this hilarious Hourly Rates Mug where their prices go up based on common frustrations. The more annoying a client gets, the more they charge. I’m not naming names, but I know graphic designers who actually do this and from the client nightmare stories I’ve heard, it’s totally justified.
These mugs are both microwave and dishwasher safe.
For the graphic artist who is looking for more ways to affix their design or logo onto products, get them an embroidery machine so they can create custom embroidered items and patches for sale.
The Brother SE600 is a great first machine because it is reliable and user-friendly. It has a full-color touchscreen and can embroider up to a four-inch by four-inch field. It also functions as a sewing machine.
Blue light from computer screens has been known to cause headaches and eyestrain so protect their eyes with this two-pack of Blue Light Blocking Glasses.
Many folks who wear prescription glasses already have a blue light blocker on their lenses but folks who don’t generally need glasses can still really benefit from a clear lens with only a blue light blocker. Reducing the amount of blue light we consume at night may also help us fall asleep faster so they’re great for insomniacs.
This is a set of gender-neutral glasses in black and clear but there are five color combination sets to choose from.
If they don’t already use one, a Waterproof Pen Display Carrying Case is crucial to protecting their extensive equipment while in storage and during travel.
There’s a padded laptop or drawing tablet pocket with a strap for security and the other half of the compartment is open with enough space for tablet accessories. The case has a smaller zippered pocket on the outside.
It’s sized to carry drawing tablets like the Cintiq 16-Inch, XP Artist 15.6-Inch, and Huion Kanvas Pro 16-Inch tablet. This is a common mid-size of tablets but you will want to check to see what size they have before buying.
Graphic artist Cassandra Korbey suggested an Embroidery Kit as something that the graphic designer in your life would appreciate because it helps them create something fun and beautiful while unplugging from their computer for a while.
We’re all looking at screens more than any generation before us and, according to Harvard Medical School, that can lead to eye strain, dry eyes, and headaches. Encourage your graphic artist to turn off the laptop and be creative offline for a change.
This beginner’s embroidery kit by Similane comes with everything you need including five sizes of bamboo hoops, 100 colors of embroidery floss, embroidery cloths, pins, 20 floss bobbins, water-soluble pens, 30 embroidery needles, pin cushion, measuring tape, scissors, threading tools, thimble, and an untwisting tool.
This Folding Glass-Top Drafting Table is perfect for folks who want a nice adjustable angle table to draw on but may not have the space to keep it out in the open all the time. The table folds flat for easy storage when not in use.
There are six angle slots from the desktop being flat up to a 35-degree angle. Two removable plastic trays add extra convenient storage for items you use while working. It’s durable, user-friendly, and attractive.
The set comes with an assortment of colors including black for all sorts of sketching needs. They have a bold 1.0mm tip and are both retractable and refillable. Your carpal-tunnel-ridden artist friend will appreciate the thicker rubber grip for more ergonomic comfort.
This grip fits the Wacom Pro Pen, Wacom Pro Pen 2, and Wacom Grip Pen.
Larger pen grips reduce strain on the muscles you use for pinching which are often affected by the types of tendonitis artists get. My partner has tendonitis from drawing and a chunkier pen has made a huge difference in his pain.
Artists interested in typography will love this Typography Postcard Set. Each postcard is a gorgeous example of thoughtful, interesting typography from House Industries. It includes two full alphabets as well as symbols and patterns.
They’re lovely for sending notes in the mail, as wall art, and for looking through for inspiration in their own art.
If they don’t already have one, any artist would appreciate a specialized carrying case to protect their drawing equipment like this water-resistant Higotech Drawing Tablet Case. It’s sized to fit pen displays and drawing tablets sized 10.04 inches by 14.37 inches.
It’s lined with ultra-soft flannelette to protect the screen and shock-absorbing material in the tablet sleeve protects against jouncing. For store tablet pens, cords, and other accessories, there are three zippered pockets in the front. It’s available in four different colors including grey, black, and pink.
If they like to play with typography, they’ll enjoy playing with the original typography: calligraphy. This Calligraphy Set comes with everything a beginner needs to wade into the world of creative lettering.
It comes with a pen, 12 pen nibs, seven bottles of ink in different colors, brass pen holder, and an instruction booklet to get them started. This is one of those things that takes an hour to learn and a lifetime to master but it plays to their strengths and may even help advance their digital typography.
Sometimes no matter the skill level, the best work comes from using the best tools so get them CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2020 so they can work with the latest and best.
It comes with a range of Corel professional graphic designer programs including CorelDRAW, Corel Font Manager, Corel Photo-Paint, Corel Capture, and Corel Aftershot 3 HDR. They’ll have all the intuitive, specialized tools needed to create vectors, typography, print media layouts, and more without trying to force common free art programs to do the graphic art tasks they weren’t designed to do.
It’s available as a disc or download for PC and Mac.
Spruce up their workspace with this Sundale Bamboo Monitor Stand. It lifts their monitor to a more ergonomic angle as well as provides more storage options that will keep their desk neat.
It has a built-in elephant-shaped smartphone stand, multi-size pen holder slots, small bin drawer, large drawer slot, cable wrangling hole, and cooling slots for using it with a laptop. It’s available in walnut and natural shades.
Your graphic artist will have a lot of fun creating their own custom stamps with this Rubber Stamp Making Kit. Creating effective stamps is a creative challenge because the image has to be simplified and tight to read as you want it to–this is something graphic designers are made for and it’ll be a neat challenge for them.
The set comes with a linoleum carver with six carving blades for creating images, three large soft rubber stamp blanks, a precision craft knife for details, a four-inch brayer (ink roller), and 15 craft ink pads.
A play off of the song “I Shot the Sheriff,” this “I Shot the Serif” T-Shirt features a serif font “S” riddled with bullet holes. This is a funny gift shirt for older graphic designers who will be familiar with the classic song or any designer who’s a fan of corny Dad Jokes.
It comes in five different colors and in men’s, women’s, and youth styles.
Gel pens are a favorite of some graphic designers for their smooth flow and solid coverage so they’ll love receiving this Shuttle Art 120-Piece Gel Pen Box Set. The box comes with a huge range of colors, with no duplicates, including classic, pastel, neon, metallic, and glitter, and swirled rainbow pens that change color as your draw.
Get them on their feet with this Flexispot Electric Adjustable Standing Desk. Sitting for long hours can be tough on their back so help them break up their long work sessions with a standing desk.
This desk has a height range of 28 inches tall to 47.6 inches tall so it can be used as both a sitting and standing desk, saving them the trouble of having to move to a different workspace. The electric-powered movement is smooth and effortless.
It has a large working space at 30 inches deep by 48 inches long and is available in several different colors.
Designers interested in vintage typography will love perusing Rian Hughes’ Custom Lettering books. Each book explores styles of hand-lettering done in different eras. These books delve into common lettering of the day and how it connects to the culture of that time.
I can almost guarantee the graphic artist in your life had pain in their shoulders and back. Give them the daily massage they deserve with this Comfier Shiatsu Massaging Chair Pad.
The pad has four Shiatsu nubs that rotate and move up and down the length of the back. Using the included remote you can customize where the rollers are to target specific problem areas and increase the intensity of the massage. For even more relaxation, there are heat options for the back rollers and a vibration function in the seat of the massager.
This season, spoil them with Smeg small appliances because the thing about graphic artists (and all artists) is that we like our things to be pretty. We’re more likely to pay more for the appearance or choose an appliance based on looks over function. We’re visual people, we can’t help it.
There’s nothing more iconic in its style in the kitchen than Smeg and the brand just starting releasing small appliances so they can get that classic look without it needing to come from a huge, expensive fridge.
They’ll love to replace their frumpy electric kettle with this Smeg Electric Kettle. It has a 1.7-liter capacity, removable lime filter, and an auto-shutoff. If they’re not big tea-drinkers, they’ll swoon over this Smeg Coffee Maker.
Here’s a shirt that only artists will understand. It reads, “Not Everything is #000000 and #ffffff,” using the hex codes for the colors black and white. Artists, graphic designers, and web developers will get a real kick out of this and enjoy the confused looks they’ll get from others.
It comes in women’s, men’s, youth cuts as well as in five different colors.
The designer in your life will love this Mid-Century Modern Retro Wall Clock. It’s a colorful sunburst clock that has reliable quartz movement and easy-to-read numbering that doesn’t take away from the sleek look of the compass spokes.
The clock is made of durable metal and has a diameter of 25 inches, making it a great focal piece for a wall. It takes one AA battery, not included.
Students of color will adore this coffee table book Pantone: The Twentieth Century in Color. The authors take each decade of the twentieth century and deconstruct it to identity each decade’s unique color palette.
The images are gorgeous and the accompanying analysis is interesting and insightful. They’ll love paging through this.
One of the things that slow you down the most when creating on a pen tablet is having to navigate through all of the different actions. That’s where the Xencelabs Quick Keys Control comes in. This separate control has 40 customizable shortcut keys that allow you to assign the actions you use most often and then have a quick and efficient way to access them without going through a bunch of dropdown menus.
The wireless, rechargeable control has buttons as well as a scroll wheel which can be assigned to things like zoom or color selection. It’s compatible with Windows, Mac OS, and Linux
Whether they already have a Cricut digital cutting device or you’re getting them one for the holidays, this Essential Tools and Vinyl Bundle will help them get the most out of their Cricut device and provide the supplies for all sorts of projects.
This bundle includes a seven-piece essential tools kit, eight sheets of removable vinyl, transfer sheets, and three e-books with project ideas. Removable vinyl is perfect for them to design their own decals for placing on walls, decor items, and more without worrying about damaging surfaces.
Long hours at a desk can cause lower back pain, so help them work in comfort with this Qutool Lumbar Support Pillow. The breathable memory foam pillow has an ergonomic design with support on both sides of the spine. It can be placed thick side down or thick side up depending on the type of support their back needs.
It also has adjustable straps to secure the cushion in place so it won’t slide around.
He can easily make a clump-free smoothie or protein drink with this ProMixx shaker bottle. The secret is vortex blending technology, which helps blend ingredients quickly and smoothly for a delicious beverage. All he needs to do is add some water followed by his favorite protein powder. The ingredients are fully incorporated, instead of sticking to the sides or the blade. Whether he’s heading to the gym or the office, he can bring his portable shaker along. It has a long-lasting rechargeable battery that will last for hours. A USB cable is included for quick and easy charging.
Check out the best gifts for graphic designers of 2023. We've got practical, cool, and funny gift ideas so there's something to fit the designer in your life.