I’m back with another gift guide, this time with gift ideas for designers, calligraphers, and artists! I started doing this guide a couple of years ago, after a very sweet husband sent an email asking for gift ideas for his wife. This year I turned to a few friends for input, including Katie from The Good Twin, Jenna from Mon Voir, Bailey from Antiquaria Design, Rose from The Great Lakes Goods, and Katie from Idlewild Co. I absolutely love their gift suggestions!

1. Colorful baskets to organize the studio. The pom pom baskets from Eliza Gran are my all-time favorites!

2. A pretty sketchbook or a cute notebook is always an excellent gift idea for artists and calligraphers.

3. Calligraphy Starter Kits. There are so many great kits on the market right now – and you can find a full list of the available options here! This starter kit from Maybelle Imasa also comes with a beautiful botanical tote bag, and this booklet from Mon Voir is a great overall introduction to calligraphy.

4 + 5. Calligraphy tools and supplies. This FineTec gold palette is a wonderful gift for established calligraphers, or even serious amateur calligraphers – and it includes rose gold! This Slider Writer is the perfect tool for creating even lines on dark surfaces, and a light box is a must for writing on light surfaces. Or consider gifting a set of Copperplate practice pads, along with this nib sampler set.

6. Beautiful porcelain palette bowls for mixing paint and ink colors.

7. A powerful lightweight light box perfect for illustrators. Also, it’s definitely pricey, but a Wacom Cintiq would be an amazing gift for any illustrator.

8. A Windsor & Newton Cotman watercolor set for painters and illustrators.

9 + 10. Pens and Pencils! Artists never have enough pens and pencils. Both the functional variety – like graphite drawing pencils, Micron pens, and colorful thin line gel pens – and the cute variety. I love the new Rifle Paper Co. pencil sets and these pencils from Betsywhite Stationery for some inspiration around the office, and this pencil set includes fun design puns and inside jokes for the design community. These water brush pens can be used with watercolor and gouache paints (so handy!), and Katie from The Good Twin recommended this Tombow dual brush pen set as a must have for any artist.

11. A lightweight tabletop easel for sketching and painting on the go.

12. The Interaction of Color by Josef Albers. A classic must-read for any artist.

13 + 14. Brass desk accessories to help corral paperwork and display favorite projects or keepsakes, including brass clips from HAY via Nannie Inez and Yield Design Co.’s geo brass stand set.

15. The custom calligraphy pens from Ashley Bush and Yoke Pen Co. are GORGEOUS and would make the most wonderful gift! Bailey from Antiquaria Design also recommended this leather desk blotter.

A couple additional ideas:

Consider gifting workshops and classes, like the Modern Calligraphy Summit, Melissa Esplin’s online calligraphy class, Molly Jacques Workshop, Mon Voir’s online watercolor class, or any other calligraphy, printing, or other artist classes and workshops in your local area.

Magazine subscriptions make wonderful gifts! I love to gift artist and entrepreneur friends with subscriptions to trade magazines in their area of interest – like Stationery Trends, which is an absolute must for anyone in the stationery industry. Rose from The Great Lakes Goods recommended a few magazines for general inspiration, including Gather Journal, The Plant, and The Desert Oracle.