WARNING: If you still believe in Santa Claus, don't read this one.
When I was a kid, I used to think I would have all the knowledge or skills I would need by a certain age. After I had reached that age, I would know everything I needed to know to be successful at whatever it was that I would become.
Once I chose Graphic Design as my desired field, I found designers who were titans of design and I looked up to them with great awe. I thought they knew everything they needed to know about design, and if I could get to their level someday, I would know everything I needed to know about design, but then came Christmas.
I love gifts! Especially gifts that are "The Gift." You know, that one gift that is the only thing you really want. Well, I got one of those gifts this year. Actually, two of those gifts. My amazing wife, Andrea, got me The Designer's Dictionary of Color by Sean Adams and Grid Systems by Josef Muller-Brockmann.
There is a lot of great information in both of these books, but you will have to buy them yourself. This is not a book review. Rather, I want to talk about what these books represent.
Remember those titans of design? Do you know how they became masters of their craft? By learning. Not just learning once, but learning through their entire lives, and because they were always learning, they were always getting better.
In 2018, I was listening to an interview with Brian Collins of Collins (wearecollins.com) by Chris Do of The Futur (thefutur.com) and Brian was saying that one of the resources his company uses for projects is their design library. Here is a snippet of that video:
I know I know, he didn't say anything about the Library in that video. It was in the background, but I didn't want to bore you will an hour+ video (if you want to watch the whole thing, here is a link). My point is, the guy knows what he is talking about, and if you want to be like the masters, do what they do. So I asked for design books to start my library.
So, what should you get a designer for Christmas? Get him things that will grow his expertise. Get him things that will inspire him. Get him things that will push him to be even better.
When I was a kid, I used to think I would have all the knowledge or skills I would need by a certain age. I certainly know more than I did then. One of those things is that I will never stop learning, and that is one of the reasons I love design. There is so much to know in design that I can spend a lifetime learning about design, and since I spend so much time learning about design, maybe you don't have to. ;)