![]() ![]() What was one of the biggest goals you set out to achieve with Day of the Dead packaging and how did you accomplish it? It was a system that begin to design itself after a while, reinterpreted for each medium. The colors, patterns, textures and typography carried through to all the touchpoints in very interesting ways. We weren’t designing just the vinyl cover or box set for the album, but the whole ecosystem. In the end, this was also one of the biggest strengths of the packaging system. When it comes to digital elements, like the website and social media posts, we can also utilize animation-to put these oil and water visuals in motion, and create interesting looping videos. We play with this tension of black and white versus vibrant color. This concept of discovery repeats itself elsewhere in the identity system as well. The colors become even more impactful and vibrant, when enclosed in such a dark exterior package. When you open the box though, an explosion of colors, patterns, illustrations and typography are revealed. When it caught the light it shimmered, but otherwise was entirely recessive. It was dark, unassuming, and a bit mysterious. Rather than having some overtly expressive and colorful exterior, we instead printed a grid of icons in clear spot varnish on a black stock. The vinyl box set is a great example of how this works. Playing with that idea of discovery, we wanted the packaging to reinforce that experience. Working on this project also allowed us to rediscover and appreciate the Dead-which was the intention of the album itself. One of the core concepts we had always been excited about, was the notion of “discovery.” The Grateful Dead was our introduction to music, and led to the discovery of an endless amount of artists and musical styles. The next step was understanding how and when to use these assets in a meaningful way. ![]() Using both of these elements, we had the beginning of a nice identity and packaging system. He had illustrated a great collection of musical references the Grateful Dead had used in their music-which made for additional references true fans would appreciate. We took this reference and started to experiment with overlays and color grading, to create a nice collection of oil and water artwork we could work with.Īnother donated piece of artwork, was a series of illustrations by the very talented Gary Panter. This was awesome, as it was a nice reference true Dead fans would recognize and an iconic element of live performances. To begin with, we had some great reference images of oil and water mixtures from The Joshua Light Show, that would often serve a backing visual for live Dead shows. The real challenge was to take these elements, and reinterpret them for a new generation. 1960s aesthetics, tie dye, dancing bears, and psychedelic imagery to name a few. To begin with, we knew we’d have to acknowledge some “expected” Grateful Dead design motifs that are iconic for the band. Besides being curated by some of our favorite musicians, the Grateful Dead held a sentimental value to us-as it was a band our parents listed to, and really our introduction to music. We had worked with Red Hot on a few previous music projects, and they hit us up about working on this one. It’s also the 20th album of original music Red Hot has produced over the past 25 years to help raise awareness and money to fight HIV/AIDS and related health issues. In the end the album is over 59 tracks long, and over 5 hours of music. They brought together a bunch of their favourite musicians to reinterpret the songs and sounds of the Dead for a new generation. In short, the album is an epic tribute to the music and artistry of the Grateful Dead, curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National. The Collected Works: Day of the Dead was a project many years in the making. Walk us through the design process that you went through for this project. We spoke with Colt at The Collected Works about combining old and new elements into a design, how the band and the music influenced the finished product, and the importance of working with clients you respect. But Jose Fresneda and Justin Colt at The Collected Works wanted the Day of the Dead, a special tribute to the Grateful Dead, to go beyond that. Tie dye, dancing bears, a skeletal jester-these are just a few of the things that come to mind when you think of the Grateful Dead.
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