The best holiday gifts for design gurus

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See our full holiday gift guide.

Set of egg cups

Originally from Tokyo, Yusuke Akai hand-turns modern, playful tableware—like these pastel egg cups made from polished porcelain with a matte finish—at his family-run Toronto studio. $42

Pill dispenser

Help your folks master their daily meds with this pocketable and practical tablet dispenser, designed to be easy to use for people with mobility issues. The SoloPill, which won a Red Dot Product Design Award last year, also features an integrated child-proof lock. $44.99

Desktop water fountain

The Stream, from Toronto design stalwart Umbra, adds a calming ambiance (and moist air) to the home office. With a compartment for succulents, stationery or essential oils, it’s as functional as it is soothing. $50

Artsy pieces

Dive into the AGO holiday gift guide and bring art into the lives of your loved ones. This curated collection of the gallery’s favourite pieces focuses on colour and light. Brighten your world with vibrant books, home decor, jewellery and more as you find love, light and something just right. $15 and up

Reversible tote

This two-in-one bag has a dual-sided design for maximum versatility. Made of lightweight nylon with complementary colours inside and out, it tote-als way more than the sum of its parts. $56

Indecisive Lazy Susan

Susan can’t catch a break. Not only is she a little slothful, but now she can’t make up her mind—at least according to Adam J. Kurtz’s indecisive tray. $45

Terra cotta menagerie

Antelopes, birds and lions—oh my. Crafted by north Pakistan artisans, these terra cotta Harappa sculptures are replicas from the ancient city of Mohenjo-daro. The UNESCO World Heritage site dates to 2,500 BC and was inhabited by the Indus Valley Civilization, the earliest known urban culture on the Indian subcontinent. $100 for a set of five

iPhone keyboard

Turn an iPhone into a 2007-era Blackberry with the Clicks Keyboard. It clicks, it clacks, it absolutely slaps. $200

Kids art collage

Mimi Gravel takes the weird and wonderful art kids make and turns it into museum-worthy collages. It’s the perfect way to honour those overflowing drawers of crafts that have been dutifully preserved for years. From $500

Performance pants

Gihan Amarasiriwardena, the co-founder of Ministry of Supply, ran a half-marathon in his brand’s Kinetic pants—and set a Guinness World Record in the process. $210

Inflatable chair

The Inflatable Ego chair is an indoor-outdoor lounger from Curves, a furniture and home decor brand from Toronto multidisciplinary artist Sean Brown. It feels (and looks) like a cloud. $230

Metallic apron

A silver bistro-style apron with a large front pocket and lace hand embellishments? Very demure, very mindful. Made by New York–based tableware brand Gohar World. $235

Sunglasses

Canadian athletic brand Ciele partnered with Article One Eyewear—a favourite of Ryan Gosling—on these aviator-style running shades that block 100 per cent of UVA/UVB rays and stay put no matter how sweaty things get. $250

Ski goggles

Because they can’t ski if they can’t see, the frameless Sweet Protection Connor RIG Reflect Goggles provide an extra-wide field of vision on top of enhanced contrast and reduced colour distortion to help prevent eye fatigue. $280

Portable speaker

The OB-4 by Swedish electronics brand Teenage Engineering is an all-in-one speaker, radio, looper and sampler. The sound quality is stellar, and the volume goes noise-complaint loud. $839

Quilt art

Toronto artist Justin Ming Yong draws on a range of influences, including early 20th-century quilters from the American south and modern art icons like Cy Twombly and Mark Rothko, to craft his unconventional pieces. $2,300