Custom Gift Design for Employees With a Two-Tier Summer Picnic Theme

Employee appreciation gifts are even more meaningful when they feel thoughtful, fun, and tailored to the people receiving them. For this custom corporate gift design project, PrizeShark came to us with a clear goal. They wanted to celebrate their team with fresh, summer inspired gifts for Labor Day while keeping everything aligned with their brand. An added layer to this project was the need for two distinct gift tiers, giving the client flexibility in how gifts were distributed across the team.

This custom gift design feature highlights how we incorporated high end gifts from well-known brands together with intentional gift keepsakes to create a cohesive-yet-dynamic employee appreciation gifting experience that felt festive, practical, and genuinely appreciative, all while allowing the client to differentiate gift levels with intention.

A Summer Inspired Approach to Employee Appreciation

From the start, PrizeShark wanted their custom employee appreciation gifts to feel seasonal and celebratory. Labor Day marked the perfect moment to lean into a summer picnic theme that felt relaxed and joyful, while still maintaining a polished and professional presentation.

It was also an ideal moment for these custom corporate gifts to stand out, landing right at the end of summer when teams were returning from vacation and settling back into focus for the rest of the year, all before the holiday gifting season began and their gifts got lost in the shuffle.

The Polarbox brand cooler became the foundation for both tiers of the gift. It was functional, fun, and visually striking, making it the perfect vessel for a summer themed gift experience. Using the same core gifting vessel across both tiers ensured consistency, while the curated contents inside each box allowed for meaningful distinction between the two gift levels.

Two Tiers With One Cohesive Vision

Designing a two-tier gifting experience requires thoughtful planning. The goal is to make both gifts feel generous and well considered, without one feeling like an afterthought. For PrizeShark, we approached this by keeping shared elements across both tiers, then layering in elevated gifting items for the second tier.

Both gift tiers included a custom branded gift tag and personalized gift notecard, reinforcing the company’s message of appreciation and keeping branding consistent throughout the experience.

In addition to the Polarbox as the gifting container, a card game was also included in both tiers to encourage connection and fun, whether at the beach, on a picnic, or during a long weekend.

Gift Tier One: Picnic Essentials

The first gifting tier was designed to feel practical, fresh, and enjoyable. Along with the Polarbox cooler, recipients received a Tupperware brand food container for easy storage and picnic snacks on the go, a quick dry towel, and an insulated water bottle to stay refreshed during summer outings. 

These gift items created a complete picnic ready experience that felt thoughtful and useful, perfect for employees to enjoy during the holiday weekend and beyond.

Let's dig in and take a inside-the-gift look this this first custom branded employee appreciation gift set with a unique and fun end of summer theme...

Gift Tier Two: Elevated Summer Fun

The second gifting tier built upon the same picnic foundation, but added layers of indulgence and play. In addition to the Polarbox cooler and branded elements, this tier included two Tupperware brand food containers for added functionality, a JBL brand  bluetooth speaker to set the mood, and a beach pillow for comfort.

To lean into summer adventures, we included a Polaroid brand underwater camera to capture memories, a paddle set for outdoor games, mineral sunscreen for sun protection, a quick dry towel, and an insulated water bottle. Each item was selected to enhance the experience while maintaining a cohesive, on brand look and feel.

Now, let's open up the cooler on this second level of custom branded employee gifts to celebrate the end of summer...

A Flexible Gifting Strategy With Lasting Impact

By offering two tiers of gifts, PrizeShark was able to thoughtfully recognize their team while maintaining flexibility in distribution. Both tiers felt intentional and celebratory, reinforcing the company’s appreciation while giving employees gifts they could truly enjoy.

At Marigold & Grey, we love designing custom corporate gifts that meet clients exactly where they are, whether that means creating multi-tier gifting strategies, seasonal experiences, or fully bespoke designs.

This custom designed picnic themed summer fun gift project including high end brands like Polarbox, Polaroid, JBL and more is a perfect example of how thoughtful curation and smart design can elevate employee appreciation in a meaningful way.

If you are interested in creating custom corporate gifts for your team, including projects with multiple gift tiers, our gifting experts at team M&G would love to help bring your vision to life. Get in touch with us today or fill out our custom corporate gift design request.

For more custom gift inspiration, be sure to check out our custom employee appreciate corporate gift gallery to see how companies take a unique approach to honoring and recognizing employee contributions.

Happy employee appreciation gifting!

3 WAYS TO DO GIFTING WITH MARIGOLD & GREY

When it comes to corporate gifting, gifts for your business, or gifts for your company's employees, clients or events, there are three unique ways to gift with Marigold & Grey.

#1: Custom Gift Design Service

If you're interested in elevated branded gifts for your company for employee appreciation, holiday or any corporate event in between, please get in touch with us to ask about our custom corporate gift design services. We'd love to work with you or your team to create something that reflects your company's brand with limitless options for customization to include branding the packaging, gift contents, printed collateral, and more. 

#2: Add-Your-Own-Logo Program (i.e. Semi-Custom Gifts)

In addition to custom gift design, we also offer a thoughtful semi-custom gift design program with low order minimums and your company's logo and brand on each gift you send. Our Add-Your-Own-Logo Program is perfect for businesses that want to send company branded gifts either all at once for an event or particular marketing campaign OR throughout the year, on demand as you need them, for special occasions like employee appreciation, birthdays, client thank-you gifts, and more.

#3: Ready-to-Ship Collection in our Online Shop

For curated gift sets and themed gift baskets that are easy to send for any occasion in life or work, don't forget to shop our curated collection of ready-to-ship gift boxes with quick turnarounds and no order minimums. These ship out within 1-3 business days; rush next-day shipping is also available at checkout.

Images: Elis Llinares Photography