About Killer Acid
Killer Acid is the psychedelic art and apparel brand of artist Rob Corradetti, who's been making paintings, drawings, and products for over 25 years. Based in Santa Cruz, California, the brand makes screen-printed t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, blotter art, home goods, and limited-edition prints — all featuring Rob's signature cartoon psychedelia, dripping with tongue-in-cheek humor and colors that refuse to calm down.
The Artist
Rob Corradetti grew up in suburban Delaware. He started drawing seriously as a teenager, filling notebooks with pen and ink sketches — often in the back seat of a friend's Chrysler New Yorker. Drawing became a way to channel restless teenage energy into something that lasted, and it stuck.
At age 17, in 1994, Rob showed his dad a notebook full of drawings. Instead of brushing it off, his dad connected him with a screen print shop owner in Ocean City, Maryland. That connection changed everything. Rob created his first brand — Craggy Sun — printing t-shirts on Anvil blanks and selling them for $20 out of his car trunk. The foundation of everything Killer Acid would become was laid right there: hand-drawn art, screen-printed products, sold direct to people who got it.
From there, Rob spent formative years in New York City, soaking up the energy of advertising, comics, and the DIY art scene. NYC advertising taught him the power of a zingy caption — phrases like "Take the High Road" and "Slow Your Roll" became as much a part of his work as the art itself. In 2010, he launched Killer Acid, schlepping tubs of t-shirts to craft fairs and book fairs, building a following one print at a time.
The Style
Rob describes his work as "one part hippie, one part punk, one part busted-up junk in the trunk." His art is populated by four-eyed cats, smoking birds, grinning mushroom guys, and all manner of psychedelic creatures — friendly gremlins he calls "docents of the mystical world." The style blends head shop aesthetics with punk rock energy, rooted in his technicolor coming-of-age in New York City and sharpened by decades of daily drawing.
Every piece starts as a hand drawing. Rob builds his own wooden canvases with a jigsaw and sander in his Santa Cruz studio. Roughly 90% of his work never sees the light of day — a self-imposed quality filter that keeps the output tight and the brand honest.
The Studio
Killer Acid operates out of a studio in Santa Cruz, California. Rob leads a team of six, shipping products worldwide. The brand focuses on direct-to-consumer sales through this website, having learned that staying close to the customer produces the best results — for the art and for the people who wear it.
Collaborations
Over the years, Killer Acid has collaborated with brands and institutions across the culture. Notable partnerships include Santa Cruz Skateboards, Meow Wolf, Liquid Death, The Jerry Garcia Estate, High Times, Retrospekt, Adult Swim, Zumiez, Smith Optics, and JSkis. Recent hits include concert posters for Goose at MSG and Phish at the Hollywood Bowl.
In 2025, an original Killer Acid painting titled "Results May Vary" was featured in Sotheby's Contemporary Discoveries auction, appearing alongside works by Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, and Sol LeWitt. Rob described the piece as capturing "psychedelic spontaneity and the joy of creation."
In the Press
Killer Acid has been featured in High Times, Vice, California Leaf Magazine, Lookout Santa Cruz, Hop Culture, and on the Clean Break Podcast, among others. Check out interviews and media features on our Press page.
The Philosophy
Rob's guiding principle comes from his Italian immigrant grandmother: "Don't let them steal your fire." For Killer Acid, that means showing up every day, making the work, and staying unafraid. As Rob puts it, "It's our job to make the fun, and have the fun, despite whatever algorithmic technocratic bulldozer tries to flatten us out."
Killer Acid doesn't sleep — but sometimes it pauses, looks around, and remembers that the whole point of the trip is the trip itself.
