Eye on Design: November
What's on my wishlist and in my basket this month. Plus, how to shop for other people (yes, it's that time of year).
One thing I have always noticed about being a journalist is that magazine writers, who work to very long lead times, are always very organised about Christmas. Their print deadlines mean they have to start thinking about it months in advance. As I write these words, I have already filed my column for the March 2025 issue of Red magazine (my December piece was written in August). All the Christmas shoots for the glossies take place in July – when the photographers try and hide any blue sky through the windows, and models swelter in polo neck sweaters under brightly decorated trees draped in fake snow. On the flipside, newspapers (at least when I was a regular in the newsroom) would ignore the whole topic of festive giving until the last possible moment – then suddenly scramble to put together their gift guides in December, which might have been the moment when everyone was in the mood to read them, but useless for all the retailers and organisers.
All of which is a very roundabout way of saying: it’s time.
But before we start looking at specific gift ideas, I’m going to give you a method for shopping. In other words it’s less about the WHAT and more about the HOW. This works for every budget and every person. It means you don’t have to try and find yourself/your child/your partner among those archetypal gift guide personalities. Or struggle to accommodate grumpy teenagers who hate commercialism but want designer trainers, husbands who will literally go out on Christmas Eve and come back with a new sweater/kitchen gadget/book because, for some reason (!) it was on sale, or that fashion-conscious friend whose tastes run far beyond your budget.
It’s about not just finding something that works for everyone, but also elevating the smallest gift so that it feels a little extra – even when budgets are tight. It’s no surprise that the first principle is good wrapping. Just as a humble tomato salad looks more appetising on a great plate, so even an obviously book-shaped package looks more exciting when care has been taken over the presentation, as it were.