01. Hard Graft KeyFold

• Price: £18

This is a lovely little gift from the guys at Hard Graft – simple, clever, easy to use and keeps your keys nicely tucked away. “I’m sick of stabbing myself with my keys every time I sit down so this little beauty would come in handy,” says illustrator and letterer Steven Bonner.

02. Go Pro 3D HERO System

• Price: £99.99

“This festive season I will be hoping the bearded one will be bringing me this Go Pro 3D rig so I can become a leading light in the world of 3D filmmaking,” smiles Neil McFarland, Creative Director at ustwo. “The only thing better than getting the 3D enclosure and two cameras would be to get a remote control quadcopter thing I could attach it to so I could fly it through the city skyscrapers and fulfill my idea of piloting it from a car and flying though Rotherhithe tunnel. The fact that this amazing opportunity is available to me, makes me even more happy to be alive in 2014 than seeing Moore’s law become obsolete.”

03. Colourbox cup and saucer

• Price: £15

“I’m usually more of a ‘mug of tea’ person, but I’d love one of these cup and saucers by Joe Rogers of Colourbox,” says Ben O’Brien, aka Ben The Illustrator. “Joe started out as an illustrator but this year has diversified and created  a stunning range of porcelain products, which I think are fantastic and it’d look super sitting on my desk. I think Joe is making something really cool here, hand-made but graphic-inspired.”

04. littleBits Synth kit

• Price: $159

If you’ve seen Matt Booth‘s recent Visualiser project you may get an inkling on why he wants one of these awesome synth kits from littleBits and Korg. This cool little kit enables you to snap together various mini synth devices such as filters, delays and envelopes to build your own sound machines. The kits start shipping 6 December, and you can pre-order now (and buy one for Matt if you like).

05. Eames House Bird

• Price: £130

“I’ve got no idea where it comes from originally but it’s an ornamental sculpture the Eames had in their house for years so it’s good enough for me,” says illustrator and letterer Steven Bonner of this beautiful bird. “The simple lines are something I come back to in my own work so it really appeals to my aesthetic. I’ve wanted one for years but never got around to picking one up.” Well, Steven, now Santa knows (as he checks Creative Bloq daily).

06. ‘The Brittania’ hand crafted globe

• Price: £3,490

Peter Bellerby is a globemaker from London, all his globes are hand crafted, bespoke to the highest quality and in my eyes, works of art in their own right,” says illustrator Jonny Wan. “With clients like Martin Scorsese and the Royal Opera House, the globes speak for themselves.”

07. Hennessy limited edition cognac

• Price: £43.50

Hennessy teamed up with artist KAWS a while back to create a limited edition collector’s edition of its famous cognac. Illustrator Frode Skaren may have a tricky time getting hold of a bottle as whilst it is still available in selected retailers, the latest limited edition has been created by FUTURA. “I’m not a big drinker but I would love to get one of those Hennessy/Kaws limited edition cognac bottles,” says Skaren. “It’s a visual reason – It’s a beautiful bottle, a mix of traditional cognac design and the colorful world of artist KAWs. A symbol of old meets new, if you will. Best of both worlds.”

08. Lambretta Series 3 TV 175

• Price: Around £6000

We’re not sure Santa’s sack is big enough for Joe Pilbeam – creative director at Brighton-based Filthy Media – this year. But why does he want this beautiful Lambretta scooter? “So I can race my dad on his,” he laughs.

09. BERG Little Printer

• Price: £169

What’s the Little Printer about? Well, the clue is in the name – it’s little, and it’s a printer. But it’s far cooler than that, being a web-connected printer that you can use to print a miniature newspaper at the push of a button – just use your phone to subscribe to over 150 different publications and you’re good to go. You can also share your printer’s details with friends and receive messages from them – both pictures and personal notes. And designer Matt Booth wants one: “If I was allowed a Christmas list, this would be on it,” he laughs.

10. Mackintosh raincoat

• Price: £880 (Dunoon)

Ah, the British weather. Rain, sleet, snow, miserable, cold. And then Winter comes. To be prepared, why not think along the same lines as Robert Holmkvist, the man behind Holmkvist Creative, and ask for a classic blue Mackintosh. Why does he want one? “So I can be both dry and well dressed in case it rains. Not that it ever rains in England,” he laughs.

11. Herman Miller Aeron chair

• Price: From $679

According to the company, the Herman Miller Aeron chair is “the most well-known ergonomic office chair ever made” and “the first to replace upholstery with the breathable, form-fitting Pellicle suspension that adapts to virtually everybody and keeps you cool and focused”. Art Editor of T3 magazine Luke O’Neill needs some of this! “It’s cool because it’s a modern day design classic,” he says “but cooler still is the fact that it may prevent me from ending up a blithering RSI-riddled mess in my older age. Hopefully.”

12. Andy Rementer People Blocks

• Price: POA

“They’d sit nicely on my bookshelves and they have a Christmassy feel to them,” says Andy Smith of these rather cool blocks from US artist Andy Rementer. The individual pieces of the characters are interchangeable, so you can re-stack them and create abstract sculptures or different characters. At an edition of 12, you may have to be quick, though!

13. Lego Architecture

• Price: $54.99

“Around 90 per cent of the space in our studio has functional purpose – books, drawings, accounts, admin, fabric, printing, products, and the other 10 per cent is fun stuff, and one of these Lego Architecture sets would fit right into that 10 per cent,” says Ben the Illustrator. “We already have the Fallingwater set, so the Farnsworth House set would make a nice pair, as far as legendary domestic architecture goes. Even though some of these Lego Architecture sets are pretty small, I do think it’s great for a ‘toy’ company to be respecting historic design like this.”

14. Makerbot Digitizer and Replicator

• Price: From $1499 (Digitizer) $2199 (Replicator)

3D printing is just about in the reach of anyone who wants to try it out nowadays, and there’d be noting more exciting for designer Matt Booth to find under his tree on Christmas morning. The Makerbot Digitizer is a 3D scanner, enabling you to quickly scan objects and then modify them (using 3D software such as ZBrush) before printing them on a Replicator. It’s awe-inspiring stuff. And imagine the fun you’d have on Christmas Day.

15. Oculus Rift

• Price: $300

Whilst still intended for developers and not a consumer bit of kit, it’s not going to be long before this amazon piece of technology hits the masses. The Oculus Rift is a next-generation virtual reality headset designed for immersive gaming, bringing you a stereoscopic 3D view with depth, scale and parallax. Why does Andy Callahan, junior designer at Filthy Media want one (and a copy of GTA V)? “So I can steal cars and kill hookers more realistically.” Of course! But you may not be on Santa’s list next year.

16. Leap Motion

• Price: £69.99

It’s no real surprise that Matt Booth wants one of these amazing devices. Not only does it enable you to control your computer via your hands, but an excellent developer programme means you can start creating incredible motion controlled apps. Just take a look at airspace.leapmotion.com to see what’s possible.

17. The Northwest Persian Mouserug

• Price: $19.95

Illustrator Jonny Wan puts this Mouserug on his list to Santa. It’s made of genuine Lextra (whatever that is) and is a replica design licensed from the de Young Fine Arts Museum of San Fransisco. Why does the Manchester-based creative want it? “It’s a Persian rug for a mouse, need I say more?” he laughs. “I’m always on the lookout for little pieces of ancient history to surround myself with for inspiration, they also do bookmarks and coasters!”

18. Cintiq Companion

• Price: From $2499

Chris Thornley – aka RAID71 – must have been a good boy this year as he’s after one of Wacom’s sublime Cintiq Companions. Merging the accuracy of a Cintiq tablet with the performance of a Windows 8 tablet, it’s a product that enables any creative pro to take their work with them, wherever they go. “I constantly work with the current Cintiq and I’m pretty much tied to the studio,” Thornley begins, “but with the new Cintiq Companion there’s the promise of taking my studio wherever I go! This would be of huge benefit to me, especially traveling – giving me more flexibility to carry on working on projects.”

19. Braun x Dieter Rams watch

• Price: £190

There’s nothing quite like a classic timepiece, and this Braun Dieter Rams watch is the ideal one for Manchester-based creative Matt Booth. “Good design for Braun means creating products that are highly functional, intuitive to use and enduring,” said the label’s head of design, Professor Oliver Grabes on Mr Porter.com. And his watch is all of those. A simple, yet stunning design. Hang on, we want one now!

20. James Brown ‘Way Out’ print

• Price: £50

Andy Smith, the illustrator behind the amazing new net magazine cover design, opts for a fellow illustrator’s print as one of his gift wants. “A print by James Brown would be nice,” he says. “The ‘Way Out’ linocut from Soma not only looks great on the wall but serves a purpose in helping remove those unwanted Christmas guests.”
Words: Rob Carney