Gifts for Architect – One of the few things that people all over the world are extremely fond of is gifts. Irrespective of their purpose for the individual who receives them, any tangible thing wrapped in paper or given in a bag does spark a child-like curiosity within anyone.
Students and professionals of architecture spend the majority of their time doing work that requires a major hands-on approach, whether it be on the laptop, or making a model; tactility highlights their line of work. As the work deliverables of architects and designers are humongous, the quantum of various items used to achieve good quality work is also high. While most individuals take the risk and invest the amount towards securing those tools, they are not all economical; and therefore incur heavy expenditure. These items, however, can be given as great gifts for anyone’s architect/designer friends, and can greatly aid them in doing their work whilst providing the necessary aid in fulfilling their tasks.
This article is for those who want ideas regarding the types of gifts one can give to their architect or designer friends and relatives. As Architects are known to prefer tangibles that are utilitarian, this list shall mainly focus on all the variety of such products, thereby establishing a general idea regarding all the options and combinations in the market.
For the Sketching Enthusiasts
1. A Moleskine Sketchbook | Gifts for Architect
As architects and designers, writing notes and drawing sketches is a habit developed over time. Therefore, a concise, smooth and adequate notebook is a must for all architects. There are many variations and options that one can choose from when it comes to notebooks; Moleskins are a great type to have, as they are pocket-sized and easy to carry around. The pages in the books are either fully ruled, clear, grid-like and dotted, depending on the user’s preference, one can choose a notebook of their suiting. Such books are great for varied use, whether it be daily planning of tasks, or sketching and writing down architectural ideas and concepts.
Although architects tend to be picky about the type of sketchbook they like using, a gesture of a gifted notebook is always well appreciated irrespective of the type, as it culminates into a useful resource nevertheless.
2. A Pouch with Good Storage
One of the best things that you can gift an architect is a storehouse for its tangible tools. A good pouch is always a great utility to have by your side, as it provides ease of access for the stationery that a designer may need at their disposal. A container for all the different types of pens, pencils, markers and brushes is perhaps one of the most useful assets an architect can have in their design armoury.
3. iPad + iPencil | Gifts for Architect
Albeit the most cumulatively highly-priced item on the list, conceptual sketching in a digital format has been growing into a trend lately. Providing the best of digitized, and hand-drawn interpretations; The iOS gadgets have a host of design programs on their Application Store. From Morpholio Trace to Adobe Suite, the portability of the iPad along with the plethora of digital medium software have induced a sense of ease towards design development formats.
Although the combination may appear uneconomic, in most cases architects are equipped with an iPad for other purposes; therefore, an iPencil as a standalone gift would suffice as well and would be a stellar collection in the already wide range of design armament owned by most architects and design students.
4. VR Headset
A recent and upcoming gadget in the architectural world, VR headsets are becoming essential gizmos in not only the gaming world; but also as a medium for gauging spatial quality on a human scale before it is even constructed. Virtual reality is shaping up to be the next big thing in architectural design and user experience with many dissertations having been attempted towards the virtual space experience. A VR headset in the affordable range would nevertheless be a gadget with multi-fold use, and therefore can be considered as a possible gift option for architects and designers.
5. Black Pigment Fine Liner Pens | Gifts for Architect
A good set of Black Fine Liner Pens are a necessity for good drafting, sketching and note-making in architecture and all the work that it entails. A set of ink pens that vary in thicknesses of the tips are an essential and a great gift that one can give to their designer architect friend, especially if they are sketching aficionados. Companies like Staedtler, Micron and Rotring are known to create quality products in this line, and a gift such as this is something that architects cherish over their entire work-life as it is an essential asset that pays off over the long term.
6. Alcohol Marker Set + Colourful Fine Line Pens
Although architects have a very monochromatic palette in terms of their dressing choices, they apply all of their colourful ideas and colour schemes in their designs. Alcohol Markers, albeit expensive; are one of the other few long term assets that architects enjoy using to their fullest. Copic is the foremost company that produces quality alcohol markers, and they can be bought either in sets of 12-24-36-48 or in small cases of 6 with a similar colour palette to it. These markers have 2 separate types of tips: pointed and flat, and the best part is that both types of tips are in just one pen, varying only based on colour. Therefore, the pens themselves are minimalist and are a great one-time investment and gift to give to their designer friends who are fond of concept sketching on paper.
7. Brush Pen + Watercolor Pencils/Palettes
ALTERNATIVELY- Colorful Brush Pens
An alternative hand rendering toolkit is the brush pen and watercolour palettes. To add more layers and work around shades of colours, colourful brush pens are great to add a smooth movement while adding different hues to the sketch. The basic brush pens can be filled with water and from a dry state, can turn wet and ready to be used for hand rendering. Landscape designers would be particularly fond of using this technique, therefore it is a great gift to be given to the creators of verdant areas.
8. Model Making Tools, such as Carving Tools + an Exacto Knife Set | Gifts for Architect
While the growth in technology is creating a shift from hands-on model making methods to laser cutting and 3d printing; certain explorations do require a far more tactile approach towards the form development of any architectural project; be it academics or professional. A set of carving tools is a pivotal long term asset that model-making enthusiast architects and designers can use when it comes to carving out and defining spaces conceptually. A set of Exacto knives is also a far better cutting tool to equip oneself with when compared to the traditional cutter. The former tends to give cleaner and sharper cuts, easing the process of hand-cutting model pieces.
For the Digitally Inclined
9. 3D/ Resin Printer
One could have never speculated that objects in 3D could be printed one day, yet technology tends to surprise most people in the least expected ways. While the high-end 3D printers are considered costly, they can start for a price as minimal as 200 USD (15,000 INR). While the product needs to be assembled by the buyer, the process is extremely direct and user friendly.
A 3D printer is a great gift to give for a technologically inclined designer and can be given collectively by multiple individuals as one whole worthwhile present.
A remedy for all Essential needs
10. Hard Drive & Pen Drive | Gifts for Architect
Good storage devices are perhaps the simplest yet the most essential gift one can give an architect or designer. As a professional, architects have tendencies to work on a host of projects that are created, designed and resolved on software which have a heavy file size, and the innumerable iterations that occur result in the formation of clutter that fills up the laptop/desktop memory; and is something design professionals do not necessarily have time to clear.
Hence, a good hard drive in the range of 1TB-5TB is a smart long term investment that pays off. An additional pen drive is a great gift to give as well, as it helps in the data transfer of relatively smaller files, which can be used for plotting and basic file transfer.
