It’s that time of year again for landscape architects and designers, when undoubtedly you will be sitting with relatives around the dinner table fending off the statements of “You study landscape architecture? Well then, you should design my yard!” Or my favorite, “My cousin Dave’s son mows lawns too – do you know him?” I think everyone can relate to the monotony of family conversation during the holidays.
Although the conversations may be misguided, you can help your friends and family out by showing them some really useful gifts for loved-ones that have an interest in landscape architecture or design.
In this article, I decided to create a list of holiday gift ideas that should please anyone interested in the fields of landscape architecture, design, or drafting. Hopefully this can spark some good ideas for your otherwise “misinformed” family members.
Design Supplies
Pentel Arts GraphGear Gift Set
This mechanical pencil set should make any designer happy. The set comes with four different graphite sizes (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9) along with lead refills and erasers. The pencils are also color coded for easy size identification.
rOtring Fountain Pen, ArtPen
Rather than give an entire set, perhaps you may wish to provide a designer with an individual everyday-carry option. The rOtring company is well known for producing top-quality writing instruments. The fountain-pen ArtPen is no different. It has a strong stainless steel nib that is interchangeable with other rOtring pens and is available in multiple sizes for fine or extra-fine points.
For a little extra money, you can get the rOtring Core Lysium XL Medium Fountain Pen.
Lamy Safari Fountain Pen
Another suitable option for delivering a quality pen is the Lamy Safari. This pen will undoubtedly make most people acquire an addiction for writing with fountain pens. The ergonomic design along with a beautiful modern look creates a great gift package for the thoughtful designer. The pen also ships with blue ink.
You can also never go wrong with a nice Copic Multiliner Set.
Speedball Travelogue Drawing Book
No pen or pencil would be complete without a sketchpad to write or sketch on. The large Travelogue landscape sketchbook is a great and affordable option for the landscape architect. It measures 5.5” x 8.25” and comes with 128 pages of high-quality 130gsm acid-free paper. The sketchbook can be easily carried while traveling and it useful for those who want to make journal entries or drawings while walking through a city or landscape.
Chartpak Markers, Assorted Landscape Colors
If you are rather unsure on the last few items – you really can’t go wrong by giving these Chartpak Markers. They have enormous versatility and are well-respected in the field. The markers work extremely well on a number of mediums and tri-nibbed so that you can obtain wide or narrow lines with ease. The assorted landscape colors would be the most useful for the everyday designer, but for the professional who may have several already, you can always substitute for a specific color range such as the or Pastels or Cool Greys .
If you really wanted to knock their socks-off, you could go for the gold with the Full Assorted 100 Set.
Technology
Seagate Portable 2TB External Hard Drive
As any designer knows, digital images and video take up quite a lot of space. Having a portable hard drvie to back up your material is essential, but it is often an after thought for many landscape architects. The Seagate hard drive carried 2TB of storage space and offers a standard USB plug-and-play simplicity. You just nee to drag and drop any files you wish to store. For the extra convenience, you can also pick up the travel case of easy handling and transport.
Logitech MX Master 3 Wireless Mouse
With great power comes great responsibility – and cost. If you are drafting 60 hours per week on AutoCad, VectorWorks, or Photoshop, you want to invest in the best mouse you can afford. The Logitech MX Master is (in my opinion) the best on the market for precision, speed, and ergonomics. The mouse has an electromagnetic scroll-wheel, an app-specific customization, and can work across three computers simultaneously. This mouse is an absolute game-changer for someone who works in the field and has never experienced the reliance or effectiveness of LogiTech before.
For added benefits, you can also purchase the complementary LogiTech keyboard for the all-in-one package.
Holy Stone HS 720 GPS Drone w/ 2K Camera
Landscape architects or designers who want the professional quality images or fly-overs of their designs often think they need to hire-out a contractor – this is simply not true. With the HS 720 Drone, any landscape designer can create stunning shots of their designs or video montages for portfolios, competitions, or RFP’s. The drone is operates smoothly with an adaptive remote which offers 26 minutes of flight time. It comes with an automatic “return home” setting and a carry-case for easy traveling. If you want to get the most out of future projects and show off your work – this might be a useful item to look at.
Canon EOS M50 Mirrorless Camera
For designers that do not wish to fuss with the idea of video-recording from a drone, but still want a professional-quality image, mirrorless cameras are a must. The Canon EOS M50 is the easiest and most user-friendly of the mirrorless camera category. IT offers a brilliant 4K image optimization with a dual-pixel autofocus. Now, it needs to be said that these are NOT cheap cameras, with most running into the thousands of dollars – however, with the M50 coming in at around $700, the investment with definitely be worth it in the long run.
Be sure if you are purchasing, you also pickup extra batteries for the long travels or video shoots you may encounter.
Books For Landscape Architects
Who doesn’t like a good book? They can be inspiring, educational, eye-opening, and most of all – affordable! Rather than detail all the great landscape architecture books on the market – I am going to refer you here, to the article “6 Essential Books That Every Landscape Designer Should Own: A Complete Guide”. Any and all of these books would make a welcome addition to any landscape designers library.
And for laughs, throw in a nice little bookmark to show you care.
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