Craig Morris, who heads up Red Rocket Design, recently designed and produced the birthday book gift that was given to Nelson Mandela by his immediate family.
The book is a masterpiece of design and craftsmanship and meets the brief given by Terry Sutherland & Associates: it must be spectacular and represent the commemoration of Mandela's 90th birthday as well as the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Graca.
The leather-bound photo album has a stainless steel cover, with laser-cut honeycomb shapes that frame three-dimensional bees in keeping with Mandela's Xhosa name - Rolihlahla. Aside from bees etched into the steel, the cover contains nine gold bees, one for each decade of life and 10 silver bees, representing each year of marriage.
The centre plate that carries the Rolihlahla crest, as well as the 3-D bees, are fine examples of the exceptional level of detail that has been achieved to create an overall result of outstanding design.
Craig said: “Working on a project such as this is both an honour and a privilege for such a great man. My appointed craftsman, Brent van den Berg, my team at Red Rocket and I added our own special bit of value by giving 110% to this project. I believe Mr Mandela has this effect on everyone who has anything to do with him.”