Bold posters of quotes from ‘The Wire’ to benefit Urban Debate League

Graphic designer Oliver Munday knows a poster about “The Wire” can never fully represent the spirit of the popular HBO show created by former Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon.
“I could never attempt to capture everything the show was, is and continues to be in a poster,” said Munday, 29.
But he hopes his new poster project — typographic renderings of 60 quotes that started each episode from all five seasons of the show — will not only be a way for him to share his affection for “The Wire” with others, but also serve a broader purpose by raising money for the Baltimore Urban Debate League, which is referenced in the fifth season of “The Wire” when character Namond Brice delivers a speech during a Baltimore Urban Debate League event.
View and purchase Munday’s posters here.
“I was re-watching the show for a second time, [and] I felt compelled in some sense to respond somehow,” Munday said. “I felt like I wanted to do some sort of project around the show.”
Although Munday now lives in New York City, he’s a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, and decided it would be best to send any proceeds from posters sold to a Baltimore-based organization. Each of the 60 posters is $35. Profits that remain after paying for printing and shipping costs go directly to the Baltimore Urban Debate League, per an agreement Munday struck with HBO.
Munday said that of the 60 posters he created, about 15 of them are selling more quickly than the rest, with the poster of Omar’s quote from Season 1, Episode 8 (above), being the best-seller.
While The Wire Poster Project isn’t affiliated with HBO, it has received something of a blessing from George Pelecanos, who worked full-time as a writer and producer for “The Wire” and told Munday he would send a link about the project to Simon.
“I hope that David Simon has seen it,” said Munday. “And I’m hoping to get to talk to him at some point about it.”