Craig & Karl: Playful, Bold, and Unapologetically Themselves

Craig Redman and Karl Maier, the creative forces behind Craig & Karl, are proof that art has no borders—literally. With Craig based in New York and Karl in London, the duo has spent years shaping a distinctive artistic language that thrives on bright colors, bold patterns, and an unwavering sense of playfulness. Despite the distance, their collaborative process is seamless, built on a foundation of shared ideas, digital file transfers, and a keen eye for storytelling through design.

Their latest installation, Cosmos, takes them back to their roots in Australia, transforming Melbourne Central into an immersive world of color, form, and festive energy. But don’t call it a Christmas installation—Craig & Karl aimed for something bigger. “We wanted it to read more festive than super Christmas-y,” Karl explains. Their approach? Use color and mood to inject surprise and delight into the everyday commute.

Art That Meets You Where You Are

Craig & Karl’s work has always been about accessibility, not in the sense of simplifying art, but in meeting people where they are. Whether it’s an illustration, a three-story installation, or a fashion collaboration with Nike or Converse, the duo believes in maintaining a core creative DNA. “It doesn’t matter if the final outcome is an installation, an illustration or an animation,” Karl says. “We don’t see different mediums or scales as different kinds of projects.” Their work is designed to be playful, but not shallow—it invites curiosity, interaction, and, above all, joy.

This ethos is front and center in Cosmos, where abstracted shapes take on faces when viewed from certain angles, rewarding visitors who take a second look. “If you’re standing under the installation, you might see a face you didn’t catch from the side,” Craig notes. It’s these small details, the element of surprise, that make their work so engaging.

The Power of Positivity and the Unexpected

Craig & Karl don’t just want to make beautiful things; they want to shift perspectives. “We’re especially interested in creating environments that shift visitors’ moods,” Craig says. Their work is a response to the seriousness of the world, a burst of color in the grayscale of everyday life. “By ‘entering’ one of our spaces, we hope to transport people out of their everyday environments.”

That idea of art as a means of escape is something they’ve explored across mediums, from public murals to collaborations with global brands. It’s not just about aesthetics—it’s about impact. “A woman told me at an exhibition opening in Amsterdam that she hated my work because the colors were horrid. I was thrilled,” Craig recalls. Because even if the reaction isn’t love at first sight, the work demands a response, a moment of engagement, a shift in perception.

A Visual Language That Keeps Evolving

Over the years, Craig & Karl have meticulously refined their own visual language. “We’ve been trying really hard to develop our own specific visual language,” Craig says. But for them, this isn’t a destination—it’s a lifelong journey. “It’s one of those things that never stops. Every project, every year, our work creeps forward and twists and turns in different directions.”

It’s a process fueled by curiosity, by the act of making itself. Their signature aesthetic—flat colors, bold lines, playful forms—remains a constant, but within that framework, there’s endless room for experimentation. It’s why they’ve been able to seamlessly jump from print to digital to large-scale installations without ever feeling repetitive.

The Magic of Making Art Together

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Craig & Karl isn’t their aesthetic (though it’s unmistakable) or their high-profile collaborations (which are plenty), but the way they approach making art together. Despite working across time zones, their process is instinctual, built on trust and a shared creative vision. “During this process, we realized we didn’t need to live in the same city or country to work together,” Craig says. “Everything could be done via messenger apps and file sharing.”

It’s this flexibility, this ability to adapt without losing their artistic essence, that makes Craig & Karl one of the most exciting duos in contemporary art and design. They’re not just creating visually striking work—they’re redefining what collaboration looks like in a hyperconnected world.

And at the end of the day, their goal is simple: to inject some wonder, optimism, and playfulness into the world, one bold shape at a time.