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. 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. 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.
The Collected Works: Day of the Dead was a project many years in the making. 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. They brought together a bunch of their favourite musicians to reinterpret the songs and sounds of the Dead for a new generation. In the end the album is over 59 tracks long, and over 5 hours of music. 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.
We had worked with Red Hot on a few previous music projects, and they hit us up about working on this one. 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.
