This is one of the most exciting projects na-nu-ja has ever been involved with. We were thrilled when Hollywoodbets approached us to produce a unique limited edition “JAPAN 2019 SOUTH AFRICA’S JOURNEY TO THE THIRD VICTORY” Rugby Photobook.

Where it all began

I clearly remember my first meeting, at the stunning offices of Hollywoodbets in Umhlanga – I presented an array of samples to a boardroom of about 7 staff members. They immediately began to discuss what type of paper, covers, size, and number of pages, they would like. I left feeling full of enthusiasm and couldn’t wait to receive the design work and decisions on what they would like the book to look like.

Gareth Jenkinson of East Coast Radio, had this to say about the image selection and writing process: “I thought my journey had come to an end covering the tournament last year but Devin Heffer asked me to help put together this amazing book which is made of Steve Haag’s epic images from the tournament last year and @debikyimages coverage of the trophy tour in Durban. It was an absolute pleasure writing up all the chapter summaries and helping Dev select images for each chapter.”

The Spec

After receiving the beautiful design work from the talented Nivedna Maharaj, na-nu-ja made up a few samples in various sizes, with different page types, logos, etc. before the following was agreed upon:

1. A Genuine Leather Walnut cover – my absolute favourite. We only purchase the highest quality hides and each has its own unique markings.
2. A debossed personalised stamp that would be heat imprinted into the hide.
3. A Slide-in Wooden box with a printed panel.
4. A Nanuja Photobook – with 110 soft digitally printed pages.

Fast forward a few months, a few extra pages, an awesome new cover and logo design by Jason Heffer of Motion Detectives and the inclusion of a limited edition certificate page, signed by Steve Haag and Devin Heffer – this gem was finally ready to be handcrafted by the na-nu-ja team.

Production

Production of this unique limited edition photobook took our team approximately three weeks: Each cover was hand cut, glued, folded and the logo heat debossed by either Jabulani, Mini or Kwangjeon. I love the photo below, where Devin, Kwangjeon and I are handling the beautiful leather hides, we just love the smell and feel of each unique piece. Saadia, together with the Fotomax team, handled the printing of over 6050 pages. The 110 pages for each book were manually bound and then joined to their covers. Each wooden box was cut, sanded multiple times, before the logo was printed onto it, then individually assembled. Saadia was responsible for QC, checking each photobook before slipping them into their wooden slide-in boxes, and into a black presentation bag.

The Handover

The handover of photobooks was done in three phases – we were thrilled that Steve and Devin popped in during production, to photograph our staff handcrafting the limited edition photobooks. Steve is so humble, we loved hearing some of his stories from his trip to Japan (being Korea’s neighbour, I was keen to find out if he enjoyed Asian food and culture) – I particularly love, that one of his favourite images is of a young Japanese girl, who waited for over 5 hours at the stadium (she is featured in Chapter 12, Fan Zone). I think it is lucky that the book opens with an image of him, because he told us he doesn’t like being in front of the lens, something I can so relate to.

Such excitement

We were very fortunate to end the morning off with a photograph of Devin Heffer, Steve Haag, Kwangjoen and myself, in na-nu-ja’s offices, handing over the first 33 photobooks, which we are told are going to be given to the 2019 Springbok Squad. Devin also mentioned that there is going to be a handover function and we will be invited!!!! I CAN”T WAIT……

Photography below by Steve Haag.

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