The Vilbil Blog

Part I of an ongoing series

Before his work appeared in digital galleries and online exhibitions, Robert Richardson’s creative journey began with poetry, typography, and a deep fascination with visual communication. In a recent conversation, he shared the formative experiences that shaped his artistic identity—revealing a practice grounded in intuition, design history, and a lifelong commitment to perception.

Typography and the Spark of Visual Thinking

“I was interested in poetry and small press publishing,” Richardson recalled, describing his early twenties in a county near London. A friendship with Richard Kennedy—one of Britain’s leading children’s book illustrators and someone who, when young, worked for Leonard and Virginia Woolf at the Hogarth Press—proved transformative. “He said, ‘What you’re doing is called typography… You should do a course on it.’”

That advice led Richardson to a three-year communication design program at a London Polytechnic. “We were required to produce work in photography, in video, in tape slide,” he explained. “But my emphasis was particularly on graphic design and typography.” Entering as a “semi-mature student” at age 25, he was told by a lecturer, “When you finish this course, you won’t be the same person as you were at the beginning.” Richardson didn’t believe it at the time. “But he was absolutely right.”

Parallel Paths: Teaching and Creating

After graduation, Richardson completed a full-time teacher training course, first teaching in the further education sector and later joining a university humanities faculty. There, he ran a centre helping students improve their essay writing— and in addition to this introduced visual communication to non-art students. “They could, using computers, have one module where they communicated instead of through words, through visual communication.”

Throughout the 1990s, Richardson continued to exhibit his own work. “My bosses were very supportive… They didn’t say, ‘You shouldn’t be wasting your time doing this.’ They actually encouraged me.” His installations and text-based pieces appeared in various venues, including Liverpool’s Visionfest, a visual arts festival where he exhibited two years in a row. “Liverpool is probably my favourite British city after London,” he said. “It was great to exhibit there.”

A Philosophy of Intuition and Perception

Richardson’s creative process is deeply intuitive. “Creating visually is about little decisions… and there are so many of them that you could never do it again, which I like.” He sees an inability to later reproduce an artwork as a sign of emotional investment and authenticity.

He also draws a distinction between art and science, referencing French philosopher Henri Bergson. “His whole notion of art was that there’s a strong intuitive aspect to it… That’s one of the great things that makes it different to science.”

Vector vs Pixel: Aesthetic and Intention

While Richardson has worked in both vector and pixel-based software, his heart lies with the former. “To begin with, it was more vector software… I’m very influenced by constructivism, especially the Bauhaus. If there’s one thing in art and design I’m obsessive about, it’s the Bauhaus.”

He also draws from concrete art, which he defines as “ideas that you want to express in terms of the visual.” Unlike abstract art, which simplifies reality, concrete art begins with concept. “The opposite of abstract is concrete… and yet the work looks almost the same. But it’s really the intention that’s different.”

Richardson’s work also incorporates minimalism and organic forms—his own twist on constructivism. “Instead of having circles, I sometimes produce distorted or more organic shapes… That is, if you like, my own little innovation.” He credits French designer Philippe Starck as a subtle influence: “He’s very organic… I have a feeling that influenced me a bit.”

This is the first in a series of features exploring Robert Richardson’s creative philosophy and practice.