As graphic designers and all-round creatives at heart, we have daily essentials that we’d be completely lost without. We couldn’t imagine waking up one day without our MacBooks or our iPhones. It would be like being teleported back into old school Graphic Design days and we’re not sure how we’d cope with that. So, here’s a rundown of everything we carry with us on a daily basis.

If you’re a budding designer, hopefully, you can pick up some tips from us and even use this blog as your go-to guide for what you can carry on a daily basis to help with your profession.

Losing our MacBooks would be like losing a baby! Firstly, it would be dreadfully awful and secondly terrifyingly inconvenient.

01. MacBook Pro

Well, this is pretty much an obvious one isn’t it. If you’re a Graphic Designer you’ll need some kind of computer/laptop to help create your work. Now we’re not going to go into the Mac or PC debate right now but we’d for sure recommend an Apple machine purely because they’re reliable and stylish of course. The MacBook Pro is a great all round machine for power users like designers, it’s very portable and compatible with a variety of design software. We use the 13-inch model which we had upgraded to the highest specification, some of you would wonder why we didn’t go for the 15″ model but we like the smaller form factor because we’re always carrying it in and out of the studio.

Our MacBook Pro spec is a 512GB solid-state drive, an Intel Core i7 3.1 GHz processor and 16GB’s of RAM.

02. iPhone 7 Plus

 

Being avid Apple fans this was kind of expected but seriously a smartphone is a must for a Graphic Designer, freelance or employed. Being able to quickly check emails, update social media pages, keeping up to date with events in the calendar and reliably communicate with clients is all important when you’re a designer. It’s basically your companion in everyday life. We’re not saying an iPhone is the best option here but any good spec smartphone will stand you in good stead for helping you organise your work life.

The iPhone 7 Plus for some might be too big, but we love it for its bigger screen. You can do and see a lot more at one time and it also helps when viewing emails and work on the go too.

03. Pentel P205 Mechanical Pencil

A good pencil is a must for our profession. You’ll inevitably have to sketch things out, mark items up and write things down. A mechanical pencil is definitely the best way to go for this. They’re infinitely refillable, they have a nice feel to them and there’s not a pencil sharpener in sight. We love the Pentel P205’s because they’re a classic. They are nice to hold in your hand and have a good weight, the variety of lead refills available is great and they don’t snap like some other pencils do.

04. Bose Soundlink Headphones

Music is a real stimulant when it comes to design. We all have our favourite genres of music we love to listen too and it can really help creative juices to flow. For us, the sound quality of our audio is really important especially when you’re on the go, so the perfect headphones for us have to be from Bose. Similar to the way we have brand loyalty towards Apple, Bose has to be hands down our favourite audio brand. We have their audio systems in our studio, their headphones and wireless speakers when we’re out and about and Elliott even rocks them in his car. The Soundlink range is wireless so they can link to our phone without the need for an awkward wire. We 100% recommend these headphones to any designer who loves their music and finds it helpful when being creative.

No beats aloud in our office! These bose wireless headphones pictured here are our perfect travel companion for on the go audio.

05. Moleskin Notebook

A notebook is essential for storing all those rough notes, sketches and ideas on paper. They are also great for meetings and for when you’re taking briefs from clients. The Moleskin notebooks are by far some of the best notebooks around. Their small size is perfect to slip into your bag and to carry around with you. You can get them in a variety of paper types such as ruled, plain and even squared. Our notebooks are branded with a brio front cover of course but you can also get them in a selection of vibrant colours too.

Our favourite colour of choice for our Moleskin notebooks has to be red of course. With an added custom white Brio sticker on the front too.

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