Ten Principles of A Good Gift
Image courtesy of @jl1232006 via Unsplash.
It's that time of year again: the Christmas gift rush.
We start frantically running around stores and clicking about online, desperately trying to find the best possible gifts for our friends and family, grabbing products we think will be a good match.
There’s so much choice out there, and it's only getting more and more difficult to find ‘the perfect gift’.
Plus, we, as consumers, are growing more conscious of exactly what we’re buying, with concerns like the environmental impact and ethical standards of the things we buy.
I recently watched Rams by Gary Hustwit, a documentary about the life and work of design icon Dieter Rams, a design legend whose work I have idolised for years.
Of course, a documentary on Dieter Rams without mentioning his 10 Principles of Good Design, wouldn't be a documentary on Dieter Rams.
These 10 principles are the design equivalent of the biblical commandments.
As they went through the 10 principles in the documentary, and with Christmas just around the corner, I started to think that these principles could be tweaked to work for gift-giving.
So let’s unwrap these new 10 principles of a good gift -- I hope they help guide you through this Christmas period.
Good design is innovative
The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted.
Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design, but innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.
A good gift is personal
Every person is unique, with their own personalities and tastes.
What one person loves as a gift, another could hate.
Just like innovation, there are endless possibilities, and once you add in all the variables like time, life, experiences, and personal growth, there are plenty of opportunities for a good gift.
Personal gifts are a reflection of the recipient’s personality, and their life at that moment.
What you get someone today might not be the same as it would be a year, or five years from now.
Good design makes a product useful
A product is bought to be used.
It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic.
Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.
A good gift is beyond useful
A good gift brings joy to the recipient.
A great gift brings joy to the recipient whenever they come into contact with the gift, even through a memory.
The best way to achieve this is to ensure that the gift serves a function, but goes beyond that function - sparking joy (thanks, Marie Kondo).
Function is objective, but sparking joy isn’t.
What sparks you for me may not spark joy for you - it changes from person to person.
It’s best to think about it as making the ordinary extraordinary, from the viewpoint of the recipient.
However, always ensure that this distraction doesn't affect the functionality, as functionality is linked to the longevity of the gift.
Good design is aesthetic
The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being.
But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.
A good gift is aesthetic
This one is a pretty universal principle.
No-one wants to receive an ugly gift, no matter how good it might function.
Good gifts are all about presentation: before, during and after unwrapping.
A gift that sparks joy for us is one we hold onto for as long as possible.
It resonates with us, affecting our mood and wellbeing - as Rams said:
“Only the well-executed objects gifts can be beautiful.”
Good design makes a product understandable
It clarifies the product’s structure.
Better still, it can make the product talk.
At best, it is self-explanatory.
A good gift is evokes an emotion
Good gifts should be full of personality, and story - it should hit all the feels.
It should be instantly recognisable and bring a smile to the recipients face.
The only reason we buy gifts in the first place is to make the other person happy.
This is why sentimental gifts have so much value for us: they evoke shared emotions - memorable and joyous.
Good design is unobtrusive
Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools.
They are neither decorative objects, nor works of art.
Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.
A good gift is expressive
Sorry Dieter, but for gifting it works a little differently - gifts are less seen as ‘tools’, more as luxuries.
If they love decorative things, get them decorative things.
If they love works of art, get them works of art.
Good gifts should represent the recipients personality, and should instantly be recognisable as that.
How many times have you said, “I saw this and thought of you…”?
Good design is honest
It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is.
It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.
A good gift is honest
Honest gifts manage the recipient’s expectations.
No-one wants to receive a gift that’s all filler and no substance.
Managing expectations may sound boring, but it’s key to giving great gifts.
No-one likes getting a massive gift box only to find a tiny present inside.
Or a Tiffany box with a Haribo ring inside.
Avoid cheap tricks - this kind of manipulation simply shines a spotlight on the value gap from expectation to delivered gift.
Good design is long-lasting
It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated.
Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.
A good gift is memorable
Nothing lasts longer than a memory.
A good gift helps build stronger relationship bonds through shared memorable experiences - they make everyone involved happy.
We should all be looking to reduce the impact of the modern, throwaway culture.
Avoiding ‘trendy gifts’ is the best way to do this.
Instead, focus on buying personal gifts based on the recipients personality and values to ensure your gift will go the distance.
Good design is thorough down to the last detail
Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance.
Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the user.
A good gift is thoughtful
A good gift considers all parts of the gifting experience, starting right from the beginning.
Take the time to do the research, find out what the recipient wants, desires and values - this will inform everything that follows.
Each stage of that process has scope for a little more thought, and ways to add those subtle little things to show that enormous care and consideration has gone into the gift.
Good design is environmentally friendly
Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment.
It conserves resources and minimises physical and visual pollution throughout the lifecycle of the product.
A good gift is environmentally friendly
Unfortunately the gifting industry is a very wasteful, from the manufacturing to the opening.
It's simply the way consumer culture is - for the moment, anyway.
However, we can all make some changes for the better.
The best way to achieve this is by reframing the way you think about a gift - focus on wants, not surprising your recipient.
Practicality always triumphs over surprise in the long run.
The gift that lasts is usually the most environmentally conscious option.
Surprise gifts are often unwanted gifts.
“Research shows the best gift is one that is wanted - not one that is unusual or special.” - Psychology Today
Remember, a gift doesn't always have to be a tangible object.
Experience-based gifts are a great way to great new long lasting memories.
Good design is as little design as possible
Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials.
Back to purity, back to simplicity.
A good gifts is guilt-free
Less guilt, better gift - a good gift should take the guilt out of buying luxury products.
These gifts don't have to be expensive, just a luxury.
These are things that the recipients wouldn't buy themselves, but will still appreciate.
Bath bombs, chocolate, concert tickets, that amazing dress they have been eyeing up in the shop window for weeks...
These are all items we don't really need day to day, they are non-essentials.
The more guilt you remove, the more joy the recipient will receive.
That’s all folks - my 10 principles of a good gift.
I hope these 10 principles have given you some food for thought going into the festive season.
Let me know in the comments below if you found this useful or if you found a principle that I need to add for next time.
Happy gifting!
