I’ve always had a knack for gift giving — whether it’s for clients or friends or friends-of-friends, I’ve always had that ability to walk through a store and say, “Yeah, they’d love that.” It’s kind of like my superpower, really — it’s netted me many smiles and much gratitude, and made gift-giving a joy instead of an obligation. I’ve even considered making a side business of it, but for now I just use my powers for the smaller good.

I was thinking today that the art of gift giving has a lot in common with the work of giving clients good design — you have to get to know them well enough to figure out what their real “thing” is, and then give them something that highlights it. If it’s a gift, and I know the person loves bats, then I’ll get them something bat-themed that also fits with the rest of their life, like a travel mug for a busy exec or a canvas tote bag for someone who’s going green (or just loves tote bags).

It’s a matter of listening to what they tell you, but also seeing what they show with their actions — sometimes it’s hard to get past what they think they want and down to what they really secretly expect. Like websites, for instance; often people will say that they just want “a presence, because you need that now, right?” But what they really mean is that they want to look like they’re keeping up with the trends, they want people to find them online and give them business that way without a lot of extra effort, and most of all, they want me to make them look good.

In fact, wanting to make them look good is a great motivation for gift-giving, too. After all, those canvas totes not only show off how green someone is, they can say something about their personality, too. And the travel mug can keep the coffee off the tie they got for Father’s day — assuming that’s a goal. And if I ever find earrings with little hanging bats, I know just who I’m going to give them to.