… a necessary element of a gift is that it must be bestowed. One can not ask for what they get, otherwise it is not a true gift. … the general structure of most design jobs: one person (the client) hires another (the designer) to create something for a third (the audience). It is hard to imagine this situation as anything other than gift-giving when the work is made out of kindness and consideration.

Gifts—whether wedding gifts, birthday presents, or the simple exchange of business cards at a meeting—operate in a social layer to initiate a relationship between people or to fortify an already existing connection. Gifts are a form of social currency, and this is fitting for design, because it is a communicative endeavor that always exists in a social context. The work has its movement initiated in its creation, and that movement gains momentum when given to the audience as a gift. The work continues its movement as it becomes distributed and shared; becoming something that is passed on after the initial hand-off. This fits nicely with another declaration … about gifts: that they must move, and the more movement, the greater the value assigned to the creation.

Frank Chimero.