This week we have a blast talking about all sorts of fun, interesting, and useful gifts for that creative in your life (or for yourself)! Stay tuned for some value and a little bit of nonsense.

Featured Music:

Club Danger – “Living Legend”

Inspirations, Thoughts, & What We’ve Been Up To

Need some ideas on what to give to follow creatives or maybe to that person on your life who appreciates creative things? You have come to the right podcast.

However, before we hear some great ideas, we hear all about Michelle’s week where she has been getting ready for Christmas. She didn’t bring a song this week, but she has a few suggestions of new music for the listeners. She suggests, new music by Copeland and Vesperteen’s new song “Operate“. (Also, the band who Michelle couldn’t remember during the show was Broken Bells). They released a new song so give it a listen. Michelle also suggests another great podcast on Spotify by Guy Raz called The Rewind.

Brandi’s week:
Sad because her husband was sick and then she got sick, but she still managed to find a positive note to this week.

Pantone just announced the color of the year for 2019: Living Coral, and it is gorgeous. Apparently Brandi is a trendsetter because she unintentionally bought her new planner in the color of the new year. Her song this week is Living Legend by Club Danger. It’s not how Brandi is feeling now, but it’s still a fun energetic song.

Now we can jump into this week’s topic which may be helpful for some or hopefully all of you, gift ideas for fellow creatives in your life, or those people in your life who appreciate creative things. We hear from both Brandi and Michelle about what are some great gift ideas for creatives.

The Christmas Gift Wish List:

1. Shop Pantone: nice notebooks, pens, and pencils,
   1. FoodMood Cookbook
   2. Notebooks
   3. Mugs
   4. Ornaments
   5. Color Books
   6. Planners
2. Ink+Volt Planner
3. Drinkware for hot beverages as well as a Hydroflask
4. Homesick Candles
5. Fidget spinners or cubes, squishies or Thinking Putty
6. Moment Lenses
7. A nice pair of headphones (Michelle suggests Sony)
8. Art from someone like Lindsay Letters aka The Art Bar
9. An experience like going to a museum, tickets to a concert or a conference; even bowling
10. Gradient Puzzles for the office
11. Dana Tanamachi Illuminated Bible
12. Temporary tattoos that you can design yourself from InkBox
13. iTunes gift card
14. Fujifilm Photo Printer that connects to your phone
15. Typographic Ticket Book
16. Classes from Skillshare or Creative Live, and
17. Timeular Gadget 

If you have any more ideas that we didn’t cover, please comment on our Instagram post to share with other listeners. Don’t forget to rate and review our show wherever you listen.

THANKS FOR THE FEEDBACK!!!!

“As a self-taught graphic designer who is constantly wanting to learn more about design in general, I’ve really enjoyed this podcast. I’ve been introduced to several new topics and ideas that I’ve then been inspired to go out and learn about more on my own.”  – verolilianaaa on iTunes

Find us on all forms of social media via @BrandiSea on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and you can email us any burning questions you want Brandi to answer on an episode at brandi@brandisea.com.

THANK YOU to the ultra-talented  Vesperteen (Colin Rigsby) for letting us use his song (“Shatter in The Night”) as the intro and outtro for every episode of Design Speaks.

Transcription:

Brandi: Welcome to Design Speaks, you’re listening to episode 75 of Design Speaks.

Michelle: On this week’s episode we are going to be talking about Christmas presents for creatives.

B: But before we get into that do you want to tell us about your week?

M: Sure, so I’ve just been getting everything ready from Christmas. I just decorated the entire office! I feel like Buddy the elf in there. I wanted to play Christmas music in there too but we have some bah humbugs. So all week I’ve just been getting ready for Christmas, I’ve also been listening to some podcasts. Also, tons of new music has come out this week, though I didn’t bring a song this week, but I do have some music you can go listen to. Copeland has released some new songs, Vesperteen released a new song this morning it’s called Operate. I’m so excited for the new Copeland stuff. I just started listening to a podcast by this guy named Guy Raz. He does a ton of podcast, it is for sure his job. He has a podcast on Spotify called The Rewind, There are only about 4 episodes at this point, and what he does is he gets specific musicians, so far, and he interviews them about where they were and how they came to fame. I’ve listened to 2 episodes so far, they’re not long, maybe like 30-minute episodes. I’ve listened to the one with Kelly Clarkson and Shawn Mendes. My husband suggested it and it was great and I suggest you go listen to it. That was my week, how about yours, Brandi?

B: My week has been a little bit sad. So, my husband has been sick since we got back from Cancun, like hardcore sick, and as of yesterday, I got what he has had. A more mild case, but still no bueno. Last time we recorded I was tired, now I’m sick so that’s why I still sound the same. So, besides having to take care of ourselves around here, Pantone release the color of the year and that has been the highlight of my week. It’s called Living Coral, and it just so happens that I unintentionally bought my new planner the color of the year which is amazing. I’m going to see if we can get Leatrice back on the show to talk about the color of the year. Though this is her busiest time of year. So I did print out the description from Pantone.com talking all about the color of the year. I won’t read the whole thing in case we do get an interview, but I wanted to read part of it. It says, “Living Coral: An animating and life-affirming coral hue with a golden undertone, that energizes and enlivens with a softer edge. Vibrant yet mellow. Pantone 16-1546 (which is the number if you want to find it on your computer). Living Coral embraces us with warmth and nourishment to provide comfort and buoyancy in our continually shifting environment. In reaction to the onslaught of digital technology and social media increasingly embedding into daily life, we are seeking authentic and immersive experiences that enable connection and intimacy. Sociable and spirited the engaging nature of Pantone 16-1546, Living Coral, welcomes and encourages light-hearted activity. Symbolizing our innate need for optimism and joyful pursuits.” So many good things in there. And there’s just one more thing from Leatrice, “Color is an equalizing lens through which our natural and digital realities, and this is particularly true for Living Coral. With consumers, craving human interaction and social connection, the humanizing and heartening qualities displayed by the convivial Pantone, Living Coral, hit a responsive chord. She says so many pretty words. I’m definitely excited for this color of the year. So now I guess I’ll bring my song which is by a group called Club Danger, it’s a pretty energetic song. It doesn’t feel the way I feel right now, but I was listening to is when I was feeling better, but it’s a really fun song. It feels a little bit video game inspired. The song is called Living Legend. It feels like it should be the song that plays after you win a video game.

M: Maybe it’s motivating you to get through this sickness.

B: Maybe, I was listening to it a bunch before I was sick, I haven’t listened to it since getting sick.

So I guess we can get into this week’s topic now. So last year around this time I wrote a blog post about gift ideas. Which was short, so this year I thought I would expand on that list by having both of us bring lists of gift ideas. I guess we will go back and forth, but I know I have more than you. The idea behind this is that most of the people listening here are creatives, this is meant to be a guide to help those of you who need to get gifts only for other creatives, or maybe if you work with someone who works in an office with creatives, someone who appreciates creative things. I guess I will go first since I brought more than you, I just talked about Pantone, they are always high up on my list. They have a lot of partnerships with other companies who can help develop logos and patterns with Pantone colors and things. One of their latest things is called a Food Mood Cookbook, I don’t cook, but I want it. It just belongs on my shelf. They even have like Pantone kids books, so if you know a designer who just had a child, they have really cool color books that help your child learn about color, but they are Pantone colors. There are also notebooks, mugs, Christmas tree ornaments. There are also Leatrice’s color books, which it I give a designer any suggestions on color books to buy right away, those are my suggestion. They have planners that have swatch stickers in them, so you can play with colors. So that’s my first suggestion, just go to Pantone.com and go shopping. At this point, I’m not sure how much of this you can get in time for Christmas, but I feel like you can still get a few so there’s one.

M: So, very similar to what is first on your list, I have notebooks and pencils. As a creative, I find my need for notebooks, pens, and pencils to be high. A few years ago I had a friend who gave me motivational pencils and even though the erasers going away I still bring it. This one says, “yes, you totally can”. And remember if you’re going to get someone pencils that need sharpening also get them a sharpener. And find out what kind of pens they like because you lose them, they can make a good stocking stuffer. As far as specific notebooks go, I like the ones that are pretty yet easy to write in. Moleskine is a good option.

B: Okay, so number 2 is something I have talked about, my planner that I got in Living Coral, I got the Ink+Volt planner. You can find it at Ink+Volt.com. This will be my third year using the Ink+Volt planner, and I love that it’s not just a planner. It helps you be productive and it has you answer questions about why you want to be productive about things. There’s a journal page for every week that just asks you questions about your goals and motivation. At the beginning of the year, it has you answer questions about your goals for the year. And at every week there is a checkbox that has you answer how you’re doing on your yearly goals and what accomplishments have you made. So not only is it a to-do list and a pretty notebook, but it’s also helping you focus more on what needs to be done, and giving you a little bit of encouragement for those things that you are getting done. It also has the normal planner things in it. It also comes in a deluxe version which is canvas bound which looks really pretty. It also has 2 ribbons for placeholders which I love because 1 is never enough. I’m always constantly switching it, or using post its or something. So the Ink+Volt planner, they have a bunch of different colors and different versions which vary in price, but I really love their stuff.

M: In addition to that, on the Ink+Volt Instagram you can find a link to a free downloadable version of their yearly planning worksheets. So not only can you buy it, but you can also print it as well. For yourself or for someone else.

B: The one I have is more on the pricey side, but it is an investment for me because I use it every day. There are cheaper versions and also pages, basically a printable PDF, so you can print some of the pages in your own home if that’s something that you want to do. I know sometimes planners can be a personal thing, but if you know the person you are buying it for I would highly recommend that as a gift.

M: Okay, so the next thing on my list. I realize that everyone is different, but I think something everyone appreciates is quality. So I out mugs and things to drink out of. So drinkware, travel mugs, a Hydroflask. My work just gave us all hydro flasks and not only am I super hydrated, but I also love having something so nice which makes me want to use it more.

B: Alright, so my number 3 is Homesick Candles. I love these candles. They are soy based candles so they burn for a long time. This is a good gift for anyone, but the main reason this is cool for creatives is that a lot of creatives move away from their hometown, and everyone can use a sense of home. Homesick Candles, craft their scents to smell like things from your hometown or country. They are good for creative that don’t get to go home very often.

M: For designers who work away from home but in an office space, or maybe they are in a lot of brainstorming meetings, fidget toys. They make a fidget cube which can be super helpful. A lot of the time people can end up looking at their phones because they don’t have anything else to do, maybe if they don’t have any specific ideas in a brainstorming meeting, a fidget toy can stop you from that automatic response of looking through your phone. It can help you stay engaged with what it happening around you. In my own office, I have Squishies, I also have Thinking Putty. You could also even go for those little wooden puzzles, to just help keep their mind active or those like metal brain teaser puzzles. They still let you focus on what it going on around you, but they allow your brain to work in a different way as well.

B: Very cool, okay so my next one is actually something that I really do want, but it’s also something that I think is super valuable. I’ve talked about how photography can help you be a better designer and also how being a designer can help you be a better photographer because they have a lot of the same basic elements to them. There is a lense company called Moment Lens, and they basically have high-quality lenses that you can attach to your phone case that can attach to your iPhone. So it basically gives your phone an even better camera lens. They have Fisheye, Telephoto lenses, and they have various wide angle lenses as well. And they have macro lenses too, and all their lenses are so nice. They’re very pretty too. They are a little bit heavy because they are glass, but they are legit lenses, and because they are heavy that’s why you need a specific case so that it can be held on. They also even have an app that goes along with it that can help you edit the photos. They aren’t cheap because they are legit lenses, but I do really really love this company, and I hope to one day own their products. Their website is shopmoment.com.

M: We are getting into the more expensive ideas now. The next thing on my list is a good pair of headphones. We listen to a lot of instrumental music, and it’s really helpful to have a good pair of headphones. I have Sony on here specifically. I have a pair of Mota headphones right now and which are fine, but I personally don’t like how tight they are, sorry Mota. I prefer Sony headphones. I find that I am more picky with headphones, you know, everyone has their own preference, but if who you are buying a gift for has never had a good pair of headphones, Sony, is a good place to start, but they are like $180 so be aware of that. Another option though is if they have an iPhone, you can get them a pair of Airpods, those are something I want. I go to the gym and I don’t want to deal with the chord. Though it does make me feel very nostalgic having headphones on and then the chord go in my hoodie, but Airpods are available.

B: Next on my list I have Lindsay Letters, abstract canvases. So Lindsay Letters is someone who I have followed for a while. I found her when she was just doing lettering stuff and in the past few years she has branched out to doing more things on top of that. She’s been doing a lot of abstract painting which I really love. I think she is rebranding herself as The Art Bar, and they cool thing about her now is that you can go on her website and choose a print, a matte, and a frame and it comes to you as a beautiful gift. It is pricey, but you can choose cheaper frames, you can choose between a print and an original because she does sell originals. So there are things at various price points. They range from some things being like $10 to as much as $400. She is also selling what she is calling gift canvases which are not the super thick art canvas, and it’s not her abstract art, she put some of her other stuff on a thinner canvas, but it comes with the back all covered and a little hanger on it so it is meant to be a gift for someone. So there are a lot of really cool things on there. I’ve come close to buying a few but then I think, I don’t know where I’m going to put that. I usually need to figure out where I’m going to put something before I buy something with such a specific color scheme.

M: So I’m running low on things, but next on my list is an experience. Buying someone an experience. So if you know if the person likes to go to museums, maybe buy tickets to a museum. We have one in New Mexico called Meowwolf, which changes out. Or maybe movie tickets, buying them a movie pass if they enjoy movies. A concert, if you hear a good concert coming through your town. Or if they are really into gaining knowledge and there’s a conference. It is a big thing price wise, but it can be big for them too. Employers, conferenced tickets for your employees, great idea. Even if they just love bowling, I don’t know, any kind of experience really.

B: Okay, I’ll do 2 on this one. So something that I have heard about that I think is either cruel or clever for an office space are gradient puzzles. So you can choose, they have different gradients to choose from and there are no words, it’s just one color gradient to another. Apparently, they are among the hardest puzzles ever. So I thought for an office it may be something fun to just leave out on a table and people can just try and put a piece here and there. The pieces are just solid colors though, and they aren’t very expensive, maybe like $20. And my next thing is Dana Tanamachi, did this project last year called the Illuminated Bible, with I believe the ESV Bible. I did get this last year for Christmas last year from my brother-in-law, and Dana Tanamachi is one of the best illustrators and letterers I’ve ever seen. She did a huge mural at the Starbucks in San Francisco recently, and this year they came out with the ESV Bible but in individual books of the New Testament so you can buy the books separately and then little study books to go with it. Even if you’re not religious, if you just appreciate illuminated manuscripts from the middle ages, it has that sort of a vibe, but it’s not in color. There are verses throughout that are lettered really beautifully and it’s just a really cool type geek sort of a gift. In full, it is very expensive, but you can now just buy one or two.

M: You can do one more

B: Okay, I’ll do one more. Another one I’m thinking about doing, a lot of creative, whether this is a stereotype or not, have tattoos or they like tattoos and they are always wanting more tattoos because I know we are. So there is this company, InkBox, and they sell temporary tattoos that look really realistic that last for about a week, a week and a half, but you can also submit your own designs. So if you have a design you want to test out, you can do custom sizes, you just send them the design and they send it to you. It’s just really fun. They also have some already printed stuff if you feel like you just want a funky tattoo for the weekend.

M: The last thing I have on my list, is not a cop out for me, I have an iTunes gift card for your Apple friendly friends. I always want to buy movies and music but I also hate the idea of it coming out of my own account, so with a gift card I can more easily buy the something I have been wanting anyway. So that’s the last thing I have on my list and it makes sense for me.

B: That’s good for like office secret Santa stuff too. So I have a few more and they are on the more expensive side. One is a Fujifilm’s photo printer, that you attach to your phone. So you attach it to your phone and it uses Instax film, and I saw it in Urban Outfitters, it’s on sale right now for $99 from $179. So there’s that. Another thing, so Hoffler, is a typographer like it’s a font house, and they have this really cool product called a typographic ticket book. It’s basically like a ticket, like what a cop would give you if you’re parked in the wrong place but it’s for typographic infractions. So you can mark things and give it to someone or stick it up on their work. I love it! If I had like a team I would use them regularly. It has a little shield on the front and you open it up and it looks exactly like how it should look. It’s brilliant! Another thing that I have on here, so this designer, I have been following for a while, he’s pretty fun. His name is Adam J, Kurtz, he has a lot of interesting designer products. He has written a few books, and some of his stuff is a little irreverent but really hilarious as a creative. It’s kind of difficult to explain. You should just go check out his stuff. Check him out on Instagram Adam J Kurtz. He has really cool pins, one of them is a little bottle and inside it says “Feelings”. And he has a little award trophy that says, “You tried”. It’s cute and I love it. And the last two things I have are Skillshare or Creative Live classes. So SkillShare almost never has free classes, so that would be a fun membership to buy someone. They have really high-quality stuff. Creative Live is a little bit different. Their stuff is free if you happen to watch it live, you can’t record it or access resources or anything, but they do have their classes available to purchase and you can buy gift cards. Same thing like with Master Class. All those kinds of extended learning type things. Creative always need to be learning or you will just die out and fall behind. And the last thing I have, I don’t know how practical it is for the price and it’s a little hard to explain so I think you should just go look it up, it’s called a Timeular Gadget. Basically, it’s this little dice looking thing, it’s about the size of my hand and it pairs with an app and you program into each of the sides what each side is. So like one side could be “client work” another side could be a “break”, turn it over that side is “sketching”, so each side is something you do throughout your day or at you job and it times it for you and you can translate it into whatever form you need to show it to a client or to a boss. It is pricey but it’s probably because it’s new technology. It’s still really cool so if you have a boss or if you have more money you can spend on a creative who will use this, it is something really cool for people who are adopters of early technology. And I think that’s it.

M: Alright, if you want to be an early follower to our Instagram page, you can follow that @designspeaks. We are still trying to figure out what that will look like, but we are also about to have our first team meeting so soon all of our podcast-related things will be on that page. Alright, huge thanks to Vesperteen for letting us use his song Shatter In the Night as our intro and outro song, and we will talk to you guys next week.

B: Bye guys!