12 gift formats that aren't mugs, totes, or fleece

There is a tyranny of three formats in corporate gifting: the mug, the tote, and the fleece. Together they account for an embarrassing share of every gifting budget on earth. They persist not because they are good, but because they are easy. Here are twelve alternatives, organized roughly by the kind of moment they are built for.

• Custom comic books. Best for onboarding, anniversaries, and farewells. Long-form, kept-on-desk, infinitely re-readable.
• Hand-bound books of internal letters. Best for retirements and major farewells. Heavy in every sense.
• Printed origin-story zines. Best for product launches and sales kickoffs. Small enough to read in a hotel room.

• Small ceramic figurines representing internal characters or mascots. Strange, sticky, conversation-starting.
• Letterpress-printed posters of a specific moment in company history. Frameable. Last decades.
• Engraved tools (a real tool, not a souvenir version). Specific to your industry. Useful. Permanent.

• Commissioned short scores or jingles for a specific team or project. Underrated. Surprisingly emotional.
• Documentary-style videos for milestone anniversaries. Time-intensive. High-impact for the right person.
• Audio letters from colleagues across the company. Cheaper than video, more intimate than text.

• Curated solo experiences — a meal, a tasting, a private museum visit — that the recipient picks the date for.
• Workshop kits for a craft (printmaking, ceramics, bookbinding) the recipient does on their own time.
• A small printed travel guide to a city the team is gathering in. Surprisingly powerful for offsites.

"Almost any of these formats, done thoughtfully, will outperform almost any mug, tote, or fleece, regardless of how nice the mug is."

When choosing among formats, ask one question: what kind of memory do you want this object to anchor? A consumable anchors a moment (a launch dinner, a celebration). A book or comic anchors a story (the team's history, a journey). A tool anchors a craft (what we do every day). An experience anchors a feeling (we know what you love).

Match the format to the memory and the gift will do its real job, which is to carry the moment forward in time long after the moment itself has ended.

Got a story worth printing?

Whether it's an onboarding kit, an anniversary issue, or a farewell gift you want people to keep for a decade — we'd love to hear about it. Tell us the occasion and we'll come back with a brief in two business days.