Printworks: Scandinavian Analog Gifts for the Slow Home
You are shopping for the person who seems to have everything — and what they actually want is an evening that isn't lit by a screen. That is the quiet idea behind Printworks, the Stockholm design studio that turns chess boards, photo albums and barware into objects worth leaving out on the table. A good Printworks gift is never unwrapped, admired for a minute, and forgotten in a drawer. It becomes part of how a home looks, and part of how an evening actually unfolds.
At Amprio Milano, Printworks is the gentle outlier in a curation otherwise built on Italian glass and porcelain — the single Swedish name, and the only one designed entirely around analog living. We carry it for a simple reason: the best gifts do more than impress on the day. They hand people a reason to sit down together, phones face-down, and stay a while. It earned its place the same way everything in our curation does — we live with the samples first, and the Printworks pieces were the ones guests kept picking up off the showroom coffee table.
From a Stockholm advertising desk to your coffee table
Printworks was founded in 2017 by Annette and Patrik, two creatives who walked away from careers in advertising and brought their instinct for storytelling with them. The idea was simple and a little contrarian: as the world tilted further into screens, they would make beautiful analog things that pull people back into the room. They describe the studio as a coffee-table concept — products meant to live on display, not hidden in cupboards.
That clarity has earned the brand some notable company, from collaborations with The New Yorker and Vanity Fair to chess content with Anna Cramling and a tie-in with Café Kitsune. You can see the through-line across the whole Scandinavian design studio: objects that look like they belong in a considered home, because they were drawn that way. It is a refreshing brief for a gift — something chosen to be seen, used, and kept.
The coffee-table concept: objects made to be seen
Most gifts face a hard truth: used once, then exiled to a shelf in the garage. Printworks designs against that fate, and the finishes carry the message. Classic pieces arrive in tactile art-paper boxes; Mirror editions wear a reflective acrylic surface; and the higher-end Lacquered and Reverra faux-leather lines are made to sit in plain sight in a living room.
Soft colours, clean lines, honest materials — this is Scandinavian minimalism with a warm, human streak rather than a cold one. The packaging is part of the design too: many pieces come in book-shaped boxes that slot neatly between the art titles on a shelf. It is the rare analog lifestyle object that doubles as a styling piece, which is exactly why it sits so naturally among the decorative pieces a host already loves.
Games for the friend who hosts
For the friend whose home is always the gathering place, give a game that earns its spot on the table. The Art of Chess in Clouds turns the classic board into a soft-toned sculptural centrepiece — the kind of set that stays out between matches instead of going back in its box. It reads as décor first and a game second, which is the whole appeal.
For a houseful of mixed ages, Tumbling Towers does the social heavy lifting: it keeps everyone leaning over the same table, laughing, rather than scrolling on the sofa. These are coffee table games in the truest sense — beautiful enough to display, easy enough that nobody needs the rules explained twice. Either makes a confident gift for the host who already has the wine glasses sorted and just needs a reason to keep guests in their seats.
Photo albums and the case for printed memories
We take thousands of photographs and look at almost none of them. A printed album is the antidote — and quietly the most personal gift on this list. Printworks albums pair cloth or printed covers and gold-foiled titles with heavy black photo pages; each generous 28×21 cm spread holds two 10×15 cm prints, so a year of pictures becomes something you actually hold. Albums are the Printworks pieces our showroom regulars come back for — usually one kept and one given.
The Moments that Matter the Most album in beige is a natural for a wedding or a new arrival, while Picture Perfect in blue suits a milestone year or a long trip worth keeping. Handing someone an empty album is a lovely sleight of hand: you are really giving them a reason to print their photos, sit down at the table, and remember. As a digital detox gift, nothing else on the shelf works quite so gently.
The host, the maker and the new-home gift
Printworks really shines when you are matching a gift to a particular person. For the host who lives for a good evening, The Essentials cocktail tools tuck a full stainless-steel barware set into a book-like box that passes for a hardback on the shelf — ideal for backyard entertaining and very nearly self-wrapping.
For the maker, the sketcher, or the design-literate friend, the classic 12-colour pencil set pairs a soft 4.0 mm core with linden wood and packaging handsome enough to leave on a desk rather than in a drawer. The same logic runs through the range, from storage boxes to lacquered trays: each piece is useful, but also good-looking enough to stay in view. That is the Printworks promise in a gift — it keeps earning its place long after the occasion that prompted it.
Where Printworks fits your gift list
What makes Printworks such a dependable name on a gift list is that nothing about it feels disposable. Every object answers the same quiet question: what would make an evening better with one fewer screen in it? Match the album to the sentimental one, the chess set to the host, the barware to the entertainer — and let the object do the slowing-down for you. Our wider gifting curation makes it easy to pair a Printworks piece to the person you have in mind, whatever the occasion.
About Amprio Milano
Amprio Milano is a Dubai-based destination for luxury tableware and home accessories. We curate seven European design houses — Baci Milano, Mario Luca Giusti, Seletti, Stories of Italy, Duccio Di Segna, Printworks and our own Simple Forms — and our team handles every piece we sell: unboxing, styling, gift-wrapping and advising hosts across the Gulf and worldwide.
What is Printworks known for?
Printworks is a Stockholm design studio, founded in 2017, that makes analog objects for modern living — board games, photo albums, barware and stationery. Its guiding idea is a coffee-table concept: every piece is designed to be displayed rather than hidden away, which is what makes the range such a natural fit for gifting.
How do I care for a Printworks chess set or photo album?
Keep wooden game pieces and boards away from direct heat and damp, and wipe them with a dry or barely-damp cloth rather than soaking them. For photo albums, store flat and slot prints in fully dry to protect the black pages. The book-shaped boxes double as dust-free storage when a piece is not on display.
Which Printworks piece makes the best gift?
It depends on the recipient. For a host, the Art of Chess in Clouds or the cocktail tools rarely miss. For someone sentimental, an empty photo album is the most personal choice. For a new home, storage boxes and trays bring colour and order. Match the object to the person and it keeps earning its place.
Start with the Art of Chess in Clouds for the host, the Moments that Matter the Most album in beige for the sentimental one, and the cocktail tools for the entertainer — three Printworks pieces ready to gift.
