PRINT’s annual tradition is to ask some of the most creative people we know about the gifts they love to give.
(*These are not affiliate links. The gifts on our list are shared as recommendations from our creative community.)
What gift made by a fellow designer caught your eye this year?
Alexander Isley, founder and lead designer at Alexander Isley, Inc., recommends goods crafted by Best Made Company. The company collaborates with designers to create unique, high-quality adventure gear. Isley’s pal, Ross MacDonald, has designed a few items for the company, including this Field Desk.
MacDonald is a multidisciplinary designer, known for creating props for TV and film, including Parks and Recreation, John Wick, and Boardwalk Empire. This field desk would make Ron Swanson proud.
Check out Steven Heller’s interview with MacDonald in 2024.
Photos: Best Made Company
Pop-up books by designer Kelli Anderson are Isley’s second recommendation, saying, “I’m a fan of pop-up books, and hers are amazing.” We couldn’t agree more! There’s one that doubles as a planetarium, one that’s also a camera, one that sets letters in motion, and more.
Photos and video: KelliAnderson.com
Rounding out Isley’s recommendations are goods from Hartford Prints, run by sisters Addy, Rory, and Callie Gale, and Blue Q, run by brothers Seth and Mitch Nash. Isley says, “[Blue Q] is great at commissioning designers and illustrators to collaborate on developing their projects. They also provide employment opportunities for differently-abled workers.”
Learn more in this nearly 15-year-old Daily Heller interview with Mitch Nash.
Matt Wegerer, owner and creative director at Whiskey Design, a Kansas City agency known for dynamic work in hospitality, packaging, and more, loves Fame and Fable: A Fantasy Board Game. “Even though I’m not a strategy gamer,” Wegerer said, “I instantly fell in love with this beautifully illustrated and stunningly designed project by artist Owen Davey.”
Davey, an award-winning book illustrator based in the UK, creates whimsical book cover illustrations and has worked with clients including National Geographic, BBC, The Guardian, and more.
Photos: Fame and Fable.
Wegerer also recommended sharing some love (aka dollars) with your local PBS station. “They need it, and we need them,” he says. Find your local PBS station.
Every year, the Whiskey Design team participates in Toys for Tots. “I like them because 98% of all donations go directly toward collecting, purchasing, and distributing toys/books to economically disadvantaged children in the community,” Wegerer says.
Morcos Key, a Brooklyn agency known for its global sensibility and an eye towards impact, works with clients in culture and the arts, nonprofits, and more. Co-founders, Wael Morcos and Jonathan Key, recommended goods crafted closer to home.
Morcos recommends Black, Queer, and Untold: A New Archive of Designers, Artists, and Trailblazers, a book written by partner Key. “It’s a book you can flip through for inspiration, dive into at any point, or read cover to cover!” said Morcos. Black, Queer, and Untold was a 2024 PRINT Book Club selection (here’s a recap).
Key recommends this jacquard blanket designed by Morcos for the Islamic Arts Biennale 2025, saying, “It’s big and soft and has multi-colored fringe. It’s the perfect throw blanket for transcultural snuggles.” The blanket is 100% cotton (25% recycled) and, we think, gorgeous.
East—West مشرق—مغرب blanket by Wael Morcos
Laura Des Enfants, publisher of PRINT Magazine, recommends the American-made hauler bags dreamed up by the designers at eqpd. She came across the bag on the industrial design site Core 77 while hunting for a well-designed, properly-crafted tote to haul her ever-expanding pickleball arsenal.
“We’re talking three bottles of water—because Texas heat is basically a personality—plus paddles, balls, towels, sweatbands, hats, a fan, and an unbelievable amount of sunscreen. I need a bag that can sit courtside without doing a dramatic faint and dumping my life across the baseline. A bag I can trust not to misbehave,” Des Enfants said.
“[eqpd] clearly understands that some of us want our gear to have both function and swagger. They nailed it.”
Photo: eqpdgear.com
This lovely idea came across our inbox; we were so enamored, we had to include it.
Know a creative in need of some craft inspiration? Don’t we all? A vacation with an artist might be just the thing. VAWAA offers a range of artist-to-artist mini-apprenticeships. Try calligraphy in Kyoto, be part of a quilting bee in Alabama, or learn to hand weave on a 4-shaft loom in Lisbon. You can opt to have your gift delivered in a beautiful box with a scarf designed by one of their partner artists.
VAWAA gift box
Header graphic by Amelia Nash.
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