Do you know someone “creative” who works “in the media”? You know the sort. They probably sit about in alternative coffee shops with deliberately unkempt hair and a sticker-clad Mac, just so that people can see they’re individual, but still quite rich.
Buying for that person can be a serious challenge, as working out what makes them tick is like trying to describe their latest “exhibit”, but not to worry: we’ve got a round up of all the gadget gifts you can get them without being derided, darling. Check them all out after the jump.
Need to keep things cheap? No worries, apparently charity shops are popular amongst those in the know. Or, just buy him or her a gift from our arty stocking fillers.
Pantone mug
If your friend is an avid Photoshopper or painter, they’ll laugh knowingly at these mugs featuring colours from the famous Pantone palette range from Amazon. “Red 186C, of course!” they’ll cry as you hand it over. In the meantime, you can laugh knowingly at the fact you’ve pleased the hard to please for under a tenner. As you would expect, there’s a whole spectrum to choose from.
V-Beat Drumsticks
Got a music man in the family? Let them drill out a tattoo, no drum kit required, with the V-Beat drumsticks. It’s a great concept: the clever motion sensor batons recognise downward swings and blast them out as drum bashes, and there’s even a foot pedal for thumping bass on the go. Plus, you know what they say about drummers, so if yours lives up to the reputation, these will act as a spare kit when they turn up for a gig without their instruments.
If you’re trying to break into the “creative” scene yourself, consider splashing out on one of these gifts for one of your more venal, arty friends.
Smoking is incredibly bad for your health, we have to put that up front. But how is your “creative” friend supposed to have a proper philosophical debate about life, the universe and everything with a French beatnick without one? The smoking ban may have put paid to these trendy cafe chats, but they can still look the part with the Milano E-Cigarette, which can even be used to wean someone off the tar, without the risk of any carcinogens, or having to buy twenty of them a day – just a one off cost of £40.
Mr Site Takeaway website
Whatever discipline of the creative arts your friend is in, they can’t hope to be noticed without a website in this day and age. You can get them an impressive internet presence out of a box from just £1.69 a month, including a domain name, hosting, Paypal support to flog their handcrafted wares and the option to upgrade the package at any time if it takes off.
Animation Station
Got a doodler to buy for? Let them take on Nick Park’s Wallace and Gromit at their own game with this graphical gizmo for under £40. The camera above takes frame by frame shots of whatever scenes take place below it and saves them on a PC: your budding animator can then stitch the 42 frame sequences together into an award-winning short that’ll make millions from merchandising. Hopefully.
Got enough money to buy an entire studio in East London? Spend your money on these instead.
Digital Film Scanner
If the person you’re buying for has been a keen photographer since the 90s, chances are they’ll have albums worth of arty black and white shots stored away. This USB-powered digital film scanner from the Gadget Shop will give all those negatives a second lease of life for just £78.29 – just feed them in and it’ll scan them onto a machine at up to a healthy 1,800dpi. It won’t use up much wrapping paper either at just 90x160x50mm.
eStarling Wi-Fi digital photo frame
If you’re feeling particularly generous (£160 worth of giving), hand your creative monkey a top end digital photo frame to display them on. Unlike most low res, rubbishy frames that require you to stick a USB key in the back and totally ruin the effect, the eStarling hooks up to your machine via Wi-Fi for wireless picture slinging. You can even use it to browse RSS feeds, though why you’d want too with an actual monitor in the same room is beyond us. Maybe it’s an artistic statement?
Belkin TuneStudio F8Z109ea
Maybe the lucky recipient is more of a music fan who fancies his or her self as a bit of a superstar DJ on the decks. The chances are though that they can’t afford all the vinyl needed to knock together a good mix, so let them harness the power of their iPod instead. Slot a Classic into this £140 four channel machine and they’ll be spewing out sound in no time. It’ll also let them record up to four instruments at once, so for those with aspirations of being the next Razorlight (God help us), it’s ideal.
Lego Mindstorms NXT
Maybe the person on your list sees themselves as the next Tony Stark when it comes to roboteering. If so, let them get inventive with Lego Technic’s customisable robot. £180 will get them 519 parts and an Intelligent Brick that can be programmed to command them all. It even responds to sound and detects objects in front of it. Guaranteed to keep them busy over the entire Christmas break.
