Top Client Appreciation Curated Gift Box Designs of 2018

It's that time of year again. The time when we reflect upon our custom projects from the last twelve months and come up with our top designs to share with you. Perhaps you recall last year's favorites from 2017? To be honest, this is always a tough process, especially for me, because I'm notorious for saying that EVERY project is my favorite project. (That's how it's should be, right?) After going back and forth as a team, we've narrowed it down to just ten. 

Explore our ready-to-ship and custom client gift box services and stay tuned for our Top 10 Wedding Welcome Gifts and Top 10 Corporate Event Gifts but for now, here are our Top 10 Client Appreciation Gift Designs of 2018....

Pinterest Client Gift Boxes

When Pinterest called and asked for "Pinterest worthy" curated gift boxes to be designed and sent to their advertising clients at the holidays, I must admit, I had one of those "Am I worthy?" moments. Then, I quickly snapped out of it and got to work curating a gift design that represents their brand, while at the same time, giving off a festive holiday vibe. Their branding is quite obviously red and white and so I used this as a foundation and then added black for dramatic flare. We used black round hat boxes for the packaging and included sweet treats, a modern luxury candle by Brooklyn Candle Co, and the real show stopper...custom cookies in the shape of an iPhone featuring the Pinterest app icon. (Sugar Studio knocked these cookies out of the park!) We finished the gift boxes off with evergreen, pine cones and black and white striped ribbon with a simple logo tag. We took a collective deep breath, exhaled, and sent a sea of these out the door hoping and praying that they pass the "Pinterest worthy" test! 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

LA Galaxy Corporate Holiday Gifts

We created holiday gifts for professional soccer team LA Galaxy last year and were thrilled to have the opportunity to do it again this season! Their navy, gold and white branding palette is a joy to work with! To create a luxury feel, we used navy blue deluxe gift boxes and embossed their logo in gold on the top of each box so it's the first thing that's seen when the shipping box is opened. We went with a hot toddy theme and included branded toddy mugs, a gorgeous hot toddy kit, honey, cinnamon sticks, and even a tin of small batch peppermint bark. Pine, pine cones and simple navy blue ribbon finished off the design.

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Vegas-Inspired Client Invites

Never in a bazillion years did I ever think I'd put a LEGO set in any of our custom gift boxes but never say never. When the American Institute of Architecture hired us to design on-brand client gifts to serve as invites to their upcoming conference in Las Vegas, a Vegas architecture LEGO set made perfect sense! Instead of boxes, we chose sturdy LLBean tote bags that would be useful to attendees during their upcoming trip. We also included locally-sourced small batch popcorn as well as Vegas-made lollipops (in the shape of dice...so fun, right!?) to further get attendees excited about the destination. We wrapped the tote bags in AIA-branded tissue paper and closed the tissue paper with AIA logo stickers before drop-shipping them to the recipients. This aesthetic is a bit of a departure from our normal look, but we thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and are thrilled with how AIA's modern brand was represented and how their business objective was met. 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

PR Firm's 'Better Together' Holiday Gift Boxes

California-based Gold PR loved the 'Better Together' theme and wanted us to incorporate this in their custom holiday gift boxes for their clients. We paired like items to accomplish the 'Better Together' concept including handmade cutting boards, gold cheese knife sets, gorgeous geode tumblers as well as honey and pecans to round out the design. While their branding colors white, gold and fuschia aren't necessarily traditional holiday, we played up the gold that's typically seen this time of year and also added greenery and pinecones for a seasonal look. The gifts ended up high-end and festive which is representative of Gold PR's brand, not only at the holidays, but year round.

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Luxury Floral Designer Vendor Gifts

These botanical-inspired pine gift boxes we created for a luxury floral designer were destined to make this year's top 10 list. Reason being...whenever we shared peeks of these on Instagram, they were always a fan favorite. Our client's objective for these gifts was to thank event planners and other industry contacts for referring them. So, in other words, they went out to our client's industry contacts to solidify relationships and express gratitude instead of being sent directly to their clients. To achieve a luxe natural look, we chose pine wood boxes and filled them high-end, floral-inspired items such as dried flowers, a ceramic bud vase, botanical facial steam, floral scented soap and more. To solidify the organic vibe, we used textured silk ribbon to close the boxes and wrapped the ribbon around numerous times for a layered look. 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Wedding Photographer Hat Boxes

The custom gift boxes for wedding photographer Lauren of Lauren Kearns Photography were definitely high impact! We paired black round hat boxes with her deep, rich burgundy branding for a rich, dramatic look. We included small batch coffee, a luxury mulled wine candle, and artisan chocolate and then finished the gifts off with custom holiday notecards featuring a sincere message of gratitude from Lauren. We then incorporated pine cones to solidify the cozy winter vibe!

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Luxury Pool Designer Home-Inspired Client Gifts

Sunset Pools, located in Texas, designs luxury pools and outdoor spaces for their clients. They came to us desiring a high end gift design for them to show gratitude to their clients throughout the year. They wanted items that could be used and enjoyed at home. With all of this in mind, we created a layered gift. We selected deluxe ivory gift boxes and filled them lotion and soap sets, candles and bubbly. Then on top of that was a turkish towel that can be used poolside. We loved the idea of pairing both indoor and outdoor items within the same gift. 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Virginia-Inspired Client Gift Boxes

A Virginia based real estate firm came to us looking for gender neutral client holiday gifts that would represent their branding aesthetic without being over-the-top holiday. With blues and greens making up their branding palette, we used these colors as a foundation to build cozy gifts that would give a nod to the business' Virginia location. We chose sturdy kraft boxes and included both sweet and savory snacks including a dogwood cookie by Sugar Studio. We also created custom holiday notecards and logo gift tags to round out the look. 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Medical Supply Holiday Client Gifts

KY Meds is a repeat client of ours and we were so excited to have them back again for 2018 holiday client gifts! And these gifts literally had it all. From sweet and savory snacks to small batch coffee and bubbly, there was definitely a little something for everyone. Custom holiday notecards by Just Write Studios gave the gifts both professional and personal polish. 

Image: Lissa Ryan Photography

Trader Interactive Client Gifts

Again, with the theme of 'Better Together', Trader Interactive loved the idea of creating pairings to represent this concept. We came up with three unique pairings: peanut butter and jelly, beer and nuts, and tea and honey. We used large sturdy black gift boxes for the packaging and paired it with bright red ribbon representing their branding color palette. We added logo gift tags that were really special. We did silver foil for an added touch of luxury and also included custom booklets representing their company mission and further reinforcing the 'Better Together' message.

Image: Emily Belson Photography

For more information on our signature Custom Gift Design Service, please visit here. We'd love to hear from you and learn more about your gifting goals for the New Year! For more client gifting inspiration, check out our Top 10 Client Appreciation Gifts from 2017 right here.