A gift guide for type makers <3

Gift ideas for your local type nerd!

Nov 29, 2024

Hey everyone!

Welcome to this very unusual edition of my newsletter. I am being constantly bombarded with holiday gift guides this year, yet I am the most holiday-pilled I have ever been so I am not even annoyed. In fact, I am going to add my own into the mix. We, as type people, are our own breed of weirdos and there needs to be a special gift guide for us!

I’d like to preface this list by mentioning that these things will not be your basic, run of the mill type things. A lot of this list is weird, secondhand, or obscure items. There won’t be any basic design related things on this list. It’s simply a list of things I love as a letter person and I want to assume other letter people would like too!

I’d also like to remind you to shop small and local this holiday season! A lot of these items can be found locally or second hand which makes for a one-of-a-kind gift! Alrighty! Let’s get to it!!

FROM FOUNDRY TO TABLE

Cute type things, straight from the source.

Space Type has just released a bunch of new merch, include type scarves and blankets!
Letter Person has released an OH no World Tour shirt that you should definitely get your hands on before they sell out!
XYZ Type has a selection of awesome merch and specimens!
Kyle Letendre has a very insightful zine called the Expressive Lettering Workbook! There’s also a digital version!
Love Pangram’s very funny “Need money for fonts” tee!
You probs need a beautiful letterpress print from Hoosier Type Co.
How about a “You Kern Do It” sweatshirt from Goodtype?
Production Type has a plethora of type goodies for sale!
The Letterform Archive always has a lot of cool things in their shop!

ART SUPPLIES

Ultra-specific things we (letter-nerds) love!

I’m obsessed with tool boxes lately!!
- I have this one from Toyo and this mini one from High Tide and love them both!
- This one from Kobalt would look great on a desk! And it’s on sale right now!
- Any old, rusty toolbox from a thrift or antique store would also be great for a budget friendly option. You can never have too many!!
A bottle of black sumi ink. I have this one but there are lots of fancier options!
Pair the ink with an assortment of funky paint brushes from your local art store! Preferably flat brushes but I like to pick up any brushes that have an interesting material for the bristles, or that are odd in any way.
I got an empty Molotow marker a couple years back and fill it with Sumi ink. It puts out a juicy, dark line! It flows really nicely and doesn’t make the paper pill like other markers do.
A selection of blank inky markers. Anything from Sharpies to Posca markers is welcome! Just go to your local art supply store and grab a handful!
A Pentel Presto Jumbo Correction Pen would never go unused!

EPHEMERA

There is a lot of new type ephemera out there but the best stuff is vintage, or one of a kind!

Vintage magazines (from before 1990 aka before computers ruined everything) that relate to the recipient’s interests. For me, it would be vintage knitting magazines but for others it might be skateboarding or music related! Try to find ones with interesting type/lettering/design if possible!
Vintage movie posters! Ideally a movie or era that the recipient likes and bonus points if you frame it! I like these Ikea frames.
An old, hand painted advertisement! I literally can’t pick one — they’re all so good!

BOOKS

This is similar to ephemera in that old books are great gifts because it’s less likely that your type-enamored friends will have a copy already!

I have a small collection of Dan X. Solo books. They’re very fun to look through for inspiration. It’s like having a printed catalogue of DaFonts!
I love pre-90’s graphic design books. A lot of them are from the paste-up era and have lots of fun layout ideas and graphics. I find them to be better than Pinterest for inspo!
- I have this one and it’s a gem!
- Armin Hofmann’s Graphic Design Manual is also great!
In a similar vein, I love the old Dover books. Especially the ones that are like old copyright free clipart! I don’t know what it is but I love looking through them!
- I have Early Advertising Alphabets by Dover!
- I borrowed this one from the library a while back and it was great!
Any old lettering books are also amazing gifts for type people. I have this one and it’s incredible! There are so many on Ebay — this one and this other one look awesome!

JUST FOR FUN

This is a classic, universal gift idea but gifting some one a type foundry tray/drawer to hold all their tchotchkes and cool rocks is always a good idea!
A vintage ashtray to hold a pencil and pencil shavings. I saw someone post about this on their story a couple weeks back but I didn’t save their name! It’s a cool idea and a classy way to deal with pencil shavings. Preferable it’s a shallow one with a spot to hold a pencil easily like this one or this one!

This is the screenshot I took from IG! Tell me who this genius is if you know!!

Alrighty, that’s all I got! Please share as a not-so-subtle hint to those that “never know what to get you.” Also please comment anything you would personally add to this list! I love to hear what others are into!