The Smiths/ Arabic

Theme: Music

This design riffs off The Smiths’ defiant anthem “Panic” — a song that called out hollow pop culture and the disconnection between music and real life. A cracked mirror ball, poised to fall, hints at the collapse of something once glittering — not just the dancefloor, but perhaps a whole way of seeing the world. In bold black and yellow — the colours of resistance, warning, and of course, Manchester — it feels both urgent and intimate. The band’s name appears in Arabic, with “The” cleverly reversed in English to flow from right to left — a subtle, subversive nod to cross-cultural perspectives. That inversion reflects the tensions at the heart of the design: East meets West, local meets global, language meets alienation. “Panic” is written in red — a jolt, a headline, a flash of unrest — while the quiet kicker, “Says Nothing To Me About My Life”, delivers the punch. It’s a line that still resonates for anyone who feels unrepresented, unheard, or disillusioned with what passes for culture or politics. This isn’t just about The Smiths or even just about Manchester. It’s about identity, class, culture, and the spaces in between — the ones where music used to fill the gap but somehow doesn’t anymore. Man, I'm old!