Best Gifts for Music Lovers
Buying for a music lover is supposed to be easy — until you remember they've already made the playlist, bought the reissue, and have opinions about the mastering. Best not to compete on the music itself.
The way round it: buy something that celebrates the music they love, rather than more of it. Everything below is hand-drawn in the Design Smith studio in Norfolk, and most of it started life as a genuine bit of ticket-stub nostalgia over someone's gig-going years.
For the one who still owns the mixtape
The Mixtapes print (£75.00) is a hand-drawn collection of classic cassettes from iconic albums — for the one who remembers exactly which tape held their most important mixtape. The Tapes card (£3.50) and Birthday Mixtape card (£3.50) cover the everyday version — still believing a good playlist is one of the greatest gifts you can give.
For the vinyl and turntable purist
If they think music is something you feel rather than just hear, the Music is Life Itself print (£50.00) says so, drawn around the iconic Technics turntable. The Put the Needle on the Record print (£45.00) and matching Record Player Needle Tins card (£3.50) do the same for the gramophone needle tins that gave it away — for the one who knows analogue sounds better.
For the one who's seen more gigs than they can count
Every decade gets its own set of ticket stubs. There's Seventies £3.50), Eighties (£3.50), Nineties (£3.50), Noughties (£3.50), and 90s Grunge (£3.50) for the Nirvana-and-Soundgarden crowd specifically — pick the decade that queued outside the most venues. The Noughties print (£45.00) is there if it deserves a frame, and the It's Only Rock n' Roll tea towel (£16.00) brings the whole ticket collection to the kitchen table for anyone who's seen more gigs than they can remember, and remembers every single one.
For the Bowie obsessive
Some music lovers only really collect one thing. The Bowie print (£45.00) is a meticulously hand-drawn collection of vintage David Bowie gig tickets, for the one who considers him not just a musician but a cultural force that changed everything.
For the analogue purist
Before streaming, before the cassette, there was reel-to-reel. The Reel to Reel card (£3.50) and matching print (£45.00) are for anyone who remembers when listening to music was an event in itself.
For the record-label devotee
Some collections are defined by the label, not the decade. There's Two Tone (£3.50) for the ska crowd who can't hear that beat without moving, and Tamla Motown (£3.50) for the one who turns the volume up the moment they hear those first few bars.
Wrapping up
Everything here ships free across the UK, and cards come with a matching kraft envelope, so there's no separate wrapping to think about.
For more, the full Music lovers collection runs to a dozen designs if none of the above quite fits.
