I respect one of the most experienced software engineers on our project. He is very humble, attempting to divert recognition and point out the accomplishments of others. Despite his protestations, I believe he has saved our company a fair amount of money over the course of this project (I think he's been on this project for 5+ years now). So, I wanted to honor him with a desk sculpture. The whole team chipped in for the cost of the print. I am going to attempt to get this painted by Monday, since we're doing an important test event this week.
This piece is intended to be in the "steampunk" style - a sort of retro future where things are powered by steam and mechanical means, and the style is roughly Victorian / Industrial Revolution. The little plaque on the front says <his name> and "Chief Engineer". The strange machine one which he leans is meant to be an imitation of the sort of product my company produces, since I can't represent software itself tangibly.
The back reads "opere et veritates", which (hopefully) means "in action and in truth", signifying doing what is right in everyday actions. I meant it to double as a sort of "guild mark" and a comment on his work ethic.
UPS seems to have a comprehension problem. Fortunately, the contents were unharmed. I may send this image to them with a bit of a reprimand.
EDIT: Turns out I live in a dreamworld. UPS is the culprit, not FedEx.