My favorite Garr Reynolds of Presentation Zen just put together an extremely cool list of gifts (mainly books) based on what he has read or used this year. I wanted to buy almost all of them, since even though I am not a designer, I love books about design.
One or a couple would make great gifts for the designer in your life.
Garr has a clean, cool aesthetic. In my next life, I want to be able to explain things as clearly and create visuals just like him.
A great gift idea that I found is The Picture Mug — a stainless steel travel mug that allows you to insert your own photo or artwork and change it anytime! http://pics-usa.com