At The Intersection of Great Design and Gift Giving

It's one thing to shop for the sake of shopping; it's another to shop for beautiful pieces and design.  There are few sites I like to go to when I want something that can be a statement piece (whether it's home decor or salt shakers) or a unique/not your typical run-of-the-mill gift for friends and family.

SCAD
I am probably the last one to realize that one of the strongest art and design schools resides in Savannah, GA.  The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is has some of the best up and coming artists and designers across different ranges - photography, architectural design, art, fashion design, etc.  I found their Shop SCAD store in Savannah (such a cute town for shopping and antiquing) when visiting my dear friend Marcia.  Here students can sell their designs and it's your own opportunity to own something different.  I bought some cute baby things for a friend that just had a little girl and a quirky T-shirt with a Boston Terrier for my sister.  The store itself is so cute I could scream.  The last time I was there, back in August, I saw a beautiful hand-painted dress.  It was a white smock dress with an impressionistic field of flowers painted at the bottom and faded as you progressed up the dress to the neckline.  It was too beautiful to wear but it would have been such eye candy to have displayed on a dress form at home. 

MoMA and SF MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) is no secret for great designs, but did you know it is a great place for gifts as well?  I think they have more selection online than in the store, plus if you aren't close to either New York or San Francisco then it's much easier too.  Fashion and shopping mags will sometimes refer to these sites for gift-buying ideas and I don't think they will disappoint so check out the main store MoMA and the SF MoMA.

This Is Auto
I can't remember how or when I found this site. It's definitely from one of the gazillion fashion mags I read, but This Is Auto is NYC-based and another site to go to for beautifully designed gifts.  At one point, I found a really cute Hannukah card with bendable candles that you could fold up for each day of Hannukah and personalized match boxes.  I think the site has grown up since then and now they offer more refined pieces.  It's not the most practical in terms of prices - they feature some designers like Missoni - but you can splurge once in awhile depending on how much you like the gift recipient ;-)