With Christmas just under two weeks away, all of the staff here at Creare are busy planning their festive break by buying gifts for their loved ones and friends alongside fearing the amount of food and drink that they will likely consume over the holiday period.
Taking a break from our usual theme of Web Design blog posts, we thought we would ask our Web Designers what gifts and gadgets they’d be hoping for from Santa this year.
Unfortunately, most Website Designers tend to have a fondness and appreciation for the more geekier and expensive gadgetry joys of life, which can sometimes result in gift buying being a troublesome task. For example, nearly every designer at Creare owns either an iPhone, HDTV, Blu-Ray Player, Playstation or Xbox!
Saying that though, there are many Christmas gifts suitable whatever your budget and below are some of the favourite staff picks, from stocking fillers to simply dream presents..
Apple Magic Mouse
Integrating a multi-touch interface similar to a laptop mousepad, the Apple Magic Mouse is more than your average wireless pointer and is a great unique gift thanks to its beautiful design and intuitive uses. Unsurprisingly, it’s an office favourite.
Optimus Maximus Keyboard
Probably the ultimate dream keyboard, with a hefty price tag to boast, the Optimus Maximus embeds a tiny LED display screens within every keyboard button.
Simply put, you can design your own keyboard buttons; specify buttons complete with icons for your favourite design applications or even animate each individual key to give it a Christmas theme.
.NET Magazine Subscription
£48: 13 Issues (.NET Magazine Website)
One of the industry leading Web Design magazines in the United Kingdom, we’re big fans of .NET Magazine at Creare for its industry news and useful tutorials. It’s the perfect quirky gift that lasts for a whole year and is sure to please any budding website designer.
Helvetica DVD
If you’re looking for a unique stocking filler, Helvetica is a remarkable documentary about the global impact that the Helvetica typeface has had throughout the design industry and commercial world. Despite sounding somewhat niche, it’s an insightful, engaging look into the world of design.
For more, watch the sequel, Objectified, which looks at product design, including insights from Apple designer Jonathan Ives on how Apples beautiful products are designed.
Web Design Books
Sure to inspire any Web Designer, whether they are a beginner or season professional, a web design book is another great budget present. Our recommendations include ‘Designing with Web Standards’, ‘Web Design for Dummies’, ‘The Smashing Book’ or ‘Getting StartED with CSS’ – which we reviewed in our most recent web design video blog.
Further Reading
Keep an eye out soon for our Creare Christmas Song featuring several of our staff members, including fellow Blog Writer, Micheal Angrave. In the meantime, check out my recent blog post on jQuery resources for Web Designers.
Happy Holidays!
