Have a Nollie Jolly Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Welcome to the Christmas gifts for designers Guide! Here at Nollie Design, we want designers to understand that “If you can design one thing, you can design everything.” Our goal is to show designers how they can expand and diversify their creative skillset.

But at Christmas time, you might be hard-pressed to find gift ideas for the creative person in your life. So let us help you with that!

Practical Christmas gifts for Designers (They’ll Actually Use!)

After years of looking at rubbish list articles of Christmas gifts for designers, we’ve decided to curate a list that actually helps designers. This list is made to expand their creative skillset (rather than sell you crap they don’t need!)

This comprehensive Christmas gifts for designers Guide dives into the world of multidisciplinary design, offering gift ideas that span across nine key design disciplines. Whether your designer dabbles in graphics or dives deep into industrial design, we’ve got you covered.

Everything on this list is intended to help designers build new skills, expand their creativity and try their hand at different fields of design. Also, every item on this list is something I personally recommend.

The Importance of Multidisciplinary Design

In today’s interconnected world, design doesn’t exist in a vacuum. A graphic designer might need to understand UX principles, while a fashion designer could gain from knowledge of sustainable practices.

Multidisciplinary design isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the future of creative problem-solving. By bridging different design fields, professionals can create more innovative, holistic solutions to complex challenges.

At Nollie, we want designers to understand that design has so many transferable skills, and every item in this Christmas gifts for designers list reflects just that.

Overview of Design Disciplines

Our guide covers these nine essential design disciplines:

1. Graphics: The art of visual communication
2. Fashion: Where style meets functionality
3. Jewelry: Crafting wearable art
4. Ceramics: Molding form and function
5. UX/UI: Designing seamless digital experiences
6. Animation: Bringing stories to life through motion
7. Sustainability: Designing for environmentally friendly futures
8. Lighting: Illuminating spaces and ideas
9. Industrial Design: Crafting products for the real world

(We share the transferable skills between all these disciplines at Nollie.)

Holistic Design Budget-Friendly Gifts (Under $50)

Sketchbooks and Quality Drawing Tools ($15-$30)

We recommend designers use a bullet journal instead of a traditional sketchbook. It lets you sketch and journal the creative workflow without needing two different notebooks.

No matter what design discipline, any designer could use a new dotted notebook in their life!

• Moleskin Dotted Notebook: The Cadillac of notebooks. https://amzn.to/3ME3fe6
• Tongfushop 80 Colored Marker Set: With over 80 colored pens, these markers can be used for illustrations to high-quality renders. https://amzn.to/4d1vCh9
• 30.5cm/12 inch Wooden Manikin with Flexible Joints: Allows designers to draw human shapes better. https://amzn.to/3ZDQdFx

Color Theory Guides ($25)

Color Theory is essential for graphics, fashion, interiors, and industrial design. Having an understanding of color goes a long way in Design. It makes your work more dynamic, more vibrant and different colors make you feel certain moods.

• Color Theory by Betty Edwards: Provides in-depth tutorials and a workbook to help designers get their heads around Color Theory. https://amzn.to/3z4vKyJ
• Colour Third Edition: A workshop for artists and designers by David Hornung: Offers interactive resources to help you apply color in design work. https://amzn.to/3MI5bCy

You can check out more of the books we recommend in the Nollie Library.

Design Thinking Books ($15-$25)

Design Thinking is what we’re about here at Nollie, and it’s what helps guide designers down the path towards becoming multi-faceted creatives.

• The Design Thinking Toolbox: A Guide to Mastering the Most Popular and Valuable Innovation Methods by Michael Lerwick: A game-changer for those who want to expand their creative skills. https://amzn.to/4dXYAzI
• Design is Storytelling by Ellen Lupton: Helps designers understand Design Thinking by using storytelling to explain it. https://amzn.to/4eiJx3t

As we mentioned, we have a whole list of books we recommend for designers. Check out our Library.

Overhead Phone Mount with Ring Light

• Phone Mount with Ring Light: Help designers film themselves drawing, designing, and capture their creative process. https://amzn.to/3B8R72e

A Screenprinting Kit

• A screen printer allows one design to be printed thousands of times without any loss of quality. It’s used for t-shirt designs, packaging and textiles. A Caydo 23 Pieces Screen Printing Starter kit is the perfect way to try this at home. I’d love for every designer to have one item of clothing they’ve designed themselves. https://amzn.to/4gqoKwX

Mid-Range Design Must-Haves ($50-$200)

3D Printing Pen

• SCRIB3D P1 3D Printing Pen with Display: A pen that 3D prints, so you can DRAW 3D OBJECTS! https://amzn.to/3Zgi3HB

Rotary Multi-Tool

• Dremel Multi-Tool: Allows designers to make changes to 3D prototypes and objects. Perfect for metalworking, industrial design and interior designers! https://amzn.to/3Zh0YgJ

Hot Foam Cutter

• GONYTIA Hot Wire Foam Cutter Table: Great for designers who might be making 3D prototypes, ideal for Industrial, Product, Furniture, Metalwork and Interior Designers. https://amzn.to/3ZkySkL

High-End Tools ($200-$500)

Graphic Tablet

• Wacom Intuos Pro Graphic Tablet: Comes with 1 year Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan! https://amzn.to/4d4EN0p

3D Printer

• Creality Ender 3 V2 Neo 3D Printer: Great for creating unique designs and prototypes. Perfect for beginners getting used to 3D design work. https://amzn.to/4da4MDS

Cutting Machine

• Cricut Joy Xtra Smart Cutting Machine: Allows designers to add vinyl to products, create stickers, die-cut and much more. https://amzn.to/3MDn5GF

VR Headset

• Meta Quest 3: Great for designers when paired with Gravity Sketch, a VR sketching software. https://amzn.to/3TuOVsj

Premium Investments (Over $500)

Designer Laptop

• Samsung Book3 360 Laptop: Ideal for Designers who want to expand their creative skills. It’s what we use at Nollie as it allows for digital drawing right onto the screen. https://amzn.to/47iYu3r

Multi-function 3D Printer

• Snapmaker 2.0 3-in-1 3D printer: Not only a powerful 3D printer but also has modules for laser cutting and CNC machining. https://amzn.to/3ME8T07

Software Subscription

• Adobe Creative Cloud Subscription: The industry standard design software across different disciplines and industries. https://prf.hn/l/w9gPZQ4

Digital 3D Scanner

• 3D Scanner: Great for experimenting with 3D design, scan big or small objects. https://amzn.to/4ene8x4

Real Christmas Gifts for Designers (They’ll Actually Use!)

The world of design is vast and interconnected. By gifting tools that support multidisciplinary design, you’re not just giving a gift—you’re investing in a designer’s growth and potential.

Whether it’s a budget-friendly sketchbook for brainstorming or a premium 3D printer for prototyping, each gift opens new possibilities for creativity and innovation. We hope these Christmas gifts for designers will give you inspiration!

As we approach the new year, it’s the perfect time for designers to upgrade their toolkit and expand their skills. The right tools can inspire new ideas, streamline workflows, and unlock creative potential across multiple design disciplines.

Want something Extra?

Happy gifting, and here’s to another year of innovative, multidisciplinary design!

Why not subscribe to our newletter to get the best tips on how to grow your design skillset.

Want to Spread More Christmas Cheer?

We’re a small business, but we have big goals! We want to become the number 1 resource for designers who want to learn how versatile their creativity already is!

If you want to help us help designers, you can even buy us a Christmas Gift from our wishlist. Everything used will go towards projects and tutorials that help designers become more adaptable in a rapidly changing world.