Seeing Design Everywhere
Melody Richmond
A Creative Founder’s Perspective on Paying Attention
I have spent my entire life looking at the world through the lens of design.
Not because I was trained to.
Not because I chose to.
But because I cannot turn it off.
Most people see things for what they are.
I see things for everything they are becoming.
A notebook on a table is not just a notebook.
It is texture, spacing, balance, intention.
A streetlight at night is not just a streetlight.
It is contrast, rhythm, shape, and quiet geometry arranging itself without effort.
Even a winter morning is never simply cold.
It is a landscape of tiny crystals capturing light with more precision than most designers could dream of on their best day.
This is how I move through the world.
Design is not something I create from scratch.
It is something I notice, something I collect, something I translate.
“People imagine creativity as a pressure to produce.
I have never believed that.”
Creativity, for me, has always been awareness.
It is the ability to slow down enough to see what is already happening all around us.
Great design does not begin with a blank page.
It begins with your eyes open.
It begins by noticing the details most people overlook.
And it begins with the understanding that the world itself is the greatest design reference any of us will ever have.
Every creator, whether they realize it or not, is imitating something bigger than themselves.
We are studying the world.
We are echoing its patterns.
We are translating its intention into our own work.
I believe this world was designed with overwhelming intention.
The edges of a shoreline.
The movement of water.
The impossible colors in a sunset that somehow repeat themselves every single day.
These moments do not feel accidental.
They feel like reminders.
Inspiration is not rare.
It is constant.
It is available to anyone who pauses long enough to see it.
It does not come from our deadlines or our calendars or our devices.
It comes from the world itself.
When I pay attention, I create better.
I lead better.
I make decisions from clarity instead of pressure.
I pull ideas from reality instead of forcing what is not ready.
This mindset has shaped the way I build Richmond Concept.
Our work is not just about visuals.
It is about intention, connection, and translation.
It is about taking the beauty that already exists and turning it into something meaningful for a brand, a message, or a moment.
The world is already designed.
My job is to notice it, interpret it, and transform a fraction of that beauty into something that helps people understand a story more clearly.
Creativity is not something I push myself to generate.
It is something I receive.
And once you start paying attention, you realize the world never stops offering it.
If you’d like to see how we bring that philosophy into our client work, you can explore our portfolio here.
