The Wire, Tangled

Late last year, I ran across a fantastic sale on The Wire[metacritic.com], which is widely considered to be one of HBO’s finest shows (or the best, if you don’t have Sopranos blinders on). My life being obscenely busy so far this year, I just cracked it open last night for the first time. “Man, they just throw you right in to the middle of everything, don’t they?” I thought. It was an exciting way to start things off, if a bit overwhelming.

While putting the disk away, the reasons behind the show’s initial complexity became clear. I have since penned the following open letter to HBO.

Dear HBO.

I love your truly professional and eye-catching package design on The Wire. I was, however, distressed to find that the disk immediately accessible when opening the first season is, in reality, the fifth and final disk of the season. In addition, the disks are packaged in such a way that the only visible text when you look at this disk is ‘Season One’. This lead to a very confusing viewing of the second-to-last episode as my first exposure to the series. Please bear my experience in mind when designing your next special edition packaging.

Sincerely,
Joseph

Not Yet

I didn’t get the level design position I applied for (although it seems I was one of the better applicants), as someone already on the development team who had industry experience applied as well. There’s always next time.