Welcome to Curbed's first gift guide, wherein our editors sort through a retail landscape rife with tech, toys, textiles, trinkets, and tchotchkes. This year we're shopping for some rather specific recipients—though we think you'll find the gift selection broadly appealing. Shop on!
Gearing someone up for the startup life doesn't have to be all about apps and gadgets. Whether at work or at home, your startup superstar will need products that help provide not only increased productivity, but also comfort and inspiration. This selection of gift ideas, encompassing art, music, transportation, and more, promises equal doses of practical ingenuity and beautiful design.
NORDMÄRKE wireless charging pad • The Grid membership • FRAMED 24-inch Digital Art Screen • The Weather Station • Endless Rain Record • Squares throw • Bicycle Repair Kit • Phantom • Mousehole Desk Tidy
NORDMÄRKE wireless charging pad
by IKEA
$64.99 at IKEA
To fully embrace the Internet of Things, one needs a smartphone that's always ready to go. Ikea's new line of furnishings with built-in wireless charging, which includes this triple charging pad, a simple work lamp, and more, will keep your tech enthusiast, for better or worse, plugged in all the time.
The Grid membership
by The Grid
$96 at The Grid
Design and technology converge at The Grid, a beta-stage service aiming to revolutionize website creation with artificial intelligence. The one-year subscription buys "Founding Member" status, and with it, "early adopter" bragging rights.
FRAMED 24-inch Digital Art Screen
by Yugo Nakamura and Yoshihiro Saito
$899 at MoMA Design Store
This Internet-connected, smartphone-integrated screen celebrates today's innovative digital art forms, such as interactive graphics and video games. Featuring a handcrafted walnut frame, the screen comes preloaded with six art works, with more available to purchase at frmd.fm.
The Weather Station
by Best Made Company
$172 at Best Made Company
Smartphones are good for many things, but accurately reporting what the weather actually feels like is rarely one of them. This seemingly low-tech "weather station," a.k.a. a thermometer and hydrometer set in solid brass case, might just do the trick.
Endless Rain Record
by Kouichi Okamoto (designer) and Kyouei Design (maker)
$55 at Ode to Things
Working at a startup is not all fun office decor and champagne parties: this record is for those inevitable get-down-to-business moments.
Squares throw
by Cristian Zuzunaga
$440 at Zuzunaga
Office temperature is hard to get right. Help them cozy up in style (and 100 percent ecological French merino wool) when things get too chill.
Bicycle Repair Kit
by Wild & Wolf
$28 at Poketo
For reliably getting to work—no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
Phantom
by Devialet
$1,990 at Devialet
Dressed to impress, this futuristic wireless speaker, controllable via a phone, computer, or tablet, projects sounds comparable to those expected from a system 10 times its size.
Mousehole Desk Tidy
by Clive Roddy
£40 (~$61) at Clive Roddy
Help keep their desks organized—a mouse, business cards, phone, and favorite pencil can all fit, but loitering kitty not included!
· Holiday Gift Guide [Curbed]