The name’s Pye…Ray Pye. This was a card done fairly quickly for my step uncle’s birthday. Not having been able to get to see the latest Bond film, Skyfall, at the cinema, I ordered the Blu-Ray DVD on its release. Around this time the BAFTA and Academy Awards’ ceremonies were taking place and the film was winning various categories and I had the thought that the timing and wordplay were just too good to pass up!
After looking for the right head and shoulders stance from a Bond film, I settled on Sean Connery’s pose from 1983’s Never Say Never Again (and yes I know that this is not recognised as a ‘proper’ Bond film as it was not a EON/Danjaq production) and set about finding a suitable head shot for Ray.
To give the cover a little more ‘depth’ a lightly textured background was added together with a feint drop shadow. For authenticity I matched the ‘Skyfall’ typeface as best I could and obtained the 007 and BBFC rating logos.
The format description at the top of the card – ‘Light Blu-Ray’ – refers to Ray’s dubious taste in football teams (one of his only faults, he is a Manchester City fan). But all things considered, he got away lightly; my other working title for the cover was ‘Live and Let Pye’!