Retirement gifts: a date, a place, the thing they can finally do
A retirement gift always runs into the same problem: it marks an ending while the person is thinking about what starts next. What works is anything that fixes a date or points at the years ahead, not anything that recalls the office. Five posters do that, two on an airport board. The retirement print writes their name and the date in large letters, with the years served and what lies ahead, and it is the only one that mentions work at all — in order to leave it behind. The city map draws the street where they worked, or the village they are heading back to. The route poster traces the walk they have put off for twenty years and will finally do end to end. It is also the team gift par excellence: everyone chips in, one person builds it, and the whole department signs the back. The size sets the price: an A4 is €19.90, a 70 × 100 €69.90.
-
Personalised retirement print — the journey of a career
The journey he made every morning for thirty years, drawn on the map: home, the workplace, the road between them and the years of the career. It is the only gift on this page that colleagues know better than the family — they have heard about that drive for years.
From €8.90
-
Personalised city map poster — the city where you met
The map of the town they worked in, or the one they are moving to. Cropped by you, in the style you choose. Framed at 30 × 40, it is the gift the whole team can sign on the back — or at 50 × 70, rolled, to frame locally.
From €8.90
-
Personalised route poster — your run, your hike, your trip
The route of the walk or ride they will finally do end to end, or of the last outing with the team, with distance and climb printed beneath. For the person whose retirement is measured in kilometres.
From €8.90
-
Personalised departures board poster — your life, airport style
Their career as flight lines: from the first job to the last day worked, each step with its date and status (“DELAYED: 40 YRS”). The Retirement style writes it in orange LEDs under “BOARDING NOW”.
From €8.90
-
Personalised boarding pass poster — announce a surprise trip
The trip the team is giving, announced on a boarding pass in their name: where it leaves from, where it goes with two real codes, the date and a line on the stub. If the place is a surprise, the city says “To be discovered”.
From €8.90
Which to choose
| If… | Then |
|---|---|
| The team is having a collection | The framed poster, signed on the back |
| You are giving on your own, as a close colleague | The A4 of their retirement print, name and date in large letters |
| They have a plan they have announced for years | The route poster: the whole walk, with its distance |
| They are leaving the area at the same time | The city map, framed on their new street |
| They spent thirty years in the same neighbourhood | The city map, framed on their old office |
| You are giving a trip and want to announce it | The boarding pass poster: a plane ticket in their name, with the two airport codes |
| You want to tell their career as flights | The departures board, Retirement style: three to seven moments, from the first job to “boarding now” |
How it goes, and when to order
| The moment | What it is | What to choose |
|---|---|---|
| The leaving do | its date, often the last Friday | Ten days ahead |
| The last working day | its date | That is the date to print, not the party’s |
| A gift from the whole team | a collection | The poster, framed or not, €19.90 to €69.90 |
| A gift from one colleague | on its own | The A4, €19.90, or the print-it-yourself file, €8.90 |
| The move that often follows | in the months after | The map of their new town |
The date to print is the last working day, not the party: that is the one on their papers, and the one they will quote.
Frequently asked questions
What’s an original gift for a colleague who is retiring?
Something that points at what comes next rather than at the job being left: the map of the walk they have talked about for years, the map of the village they are heading back to, or the leaving date written in large letters on the retirement print, which marks the day and counts the years without a word about the office. A poster gets signed on the back, and that is what colleagues remember.
What works when the whole team chips in for a joint gift?
A framed poster: €38.90 at A4, €58.90 at 30 × 40; the larger sizes, 40 × 60, 50 × 70 and 70 × 100, ship rolled, to be framed locally, from €44.90 to €69.90. All five sizes take a printed title and dedication under the image; what the largest adds is that it reads from across a living room, and leaves room for the signatures on the back.
Which date should be printed?
The last working day rather than the day of the leaving do, which usually gets moved to a convenient Friday. It is the date on their paperwork and the one they will remember. The retirement print writes it in large letters, with the number of years served: it is the only poster on this page that carries one.
How long before the leaving do should you order?
Ten days for Ireland: 48 hours of printing in the workshop, then the post from the south of France. A retirement is known weeks ahead — this is the occasion where there is time, so it is worth using it on a larger size.
Can you give the same thing for several retirements in a year?
Yes, and departments that see several people leave do exactly that: the same retirement print, with another name, another date and another style — nine colour palettes — and nothing forces two successive gifts to look alike. The composition takes a few minutes to redo, starting from the previous one.
-
Printed in AveyronComposed and printed in our family workshop in Aveyron, checked before it ships.
-
Printed to order250 g matte paper, pigment inks: printed in our Aveyron workshop, whatever the size.
-
Shipped within 48 hTo your door or to a pickup point, by La Poste or Colissimo.
-
Ready to giveStandard frame sizes, easy to find.