Archie Boston Jr.

Last updated

Archie Boston Jr. (born 1943) is an American graphic artist and retired professor.

Contents

Born to an impoverished family in a small town in southern Florida, [1] Boston received an education in graphic design [2] at Chouinard Art Institute located in Los Angeles. [1] During school and after graduation, he worked in numerous ad agencies based in Los Angeles [3] before forming Boston & Boston Design with his brother Bradford in 1967—one of the first Black-owned agencies in the United States. [1] [3] In 1972, at age 29, he became the president of the Art Director Club of Los Angeles, the second-largest in the nation. He was the first Black president in the organization's 28-year history. [2]

In 1977 Boston received a master's degree from the University of Southern California, and began his long career as an educator [4] at California State University, Long Beach. [1] He helped found the Visual Communications Design program there and served as the department chair. [1] [3] In 2004 he was named Outstanding Professor of the Year. [5]

He has produced several documentary films, including 20 Outstanding Los Angeles Designers [3] and, in 2018 with his brother David, he produced the documentary, Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City about the activist members of the Black community in St. Petersburg, Florida [6]

In 2021, Boston became an American Institute of Graphic Arts medalist. [7]

Early years

Born in 1943 in Clewiston, Florida, [1] Boston's father was either a sugar cane sharecropper or a migrant worker tilling the sugarcane fields and later became a truck driver. [1] [8] His mother raised five children, including Archie, and worked as a babysitter. [8] The same year as Archie was born, the impoverished family [1] moved to the "Peppertown" area of St. Petersburg, a black community of around 14,000 residents occupying about 2 square miles. [8] The Boston family may have moved to the Gas Plant area of the community at some point in the 1940s, [8] an area that is currently known as Midtown. [8] [9] Boston graduated from Gibbs High School. [8] [1]

Education

In 1961, Boston followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Bradford, attending Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (which later became California Institute of the Arts). [1] [3] National Defense Student Loans funded his education [1] [2] for the first three years and then a Disney Foundation Scholarship funded his final year of graphic design studies. [2] He was taught by Louis Danziger, Ken Parkhurst, and Marvin Rubin, graduating with honors in 1965. [3] In 1977 he received his master's degree from the University of Southern California. [4]

Career

During his senior year at Chouinard, Boston worked as an intern at the Los Angeles-based advertising agency Carson/Roberts, one of the largest in the West. [10] He went on to work at various studios, including Hixson and Jorgensen Advertising in 1965, and in 1966 he became an art director at Botsford Ketchum. [3] In 1967, he and his older brother, Bradford, formed Boston & Boston Design, one of the first Black-owned agencies in the United States. [3] The two had worked together previously in 1963 producing a series of posters for the Council on Negro Affairs. Boston & Boston Design's clients included Beckman Instruments, Chiat/Day Advertising, and Concord Electronics. [3]

In 1969, after two years working together, Archie left Boston & Boston Design, wanting to return to advertising agency work where he would be able to see his concepts realized through published ads. [2] He took a position at his previous employer, Carson/Roberts, but shortly after rejoined Botsford Ketchum, where he remained until 1977. [1] At Botsford Ketchum, Boston worked on campaigns for Motorola, Raytheon, Yamaha, and Pentel, rounding out his advertising skills with copywriting, notably writing the headline for a Pentel ad, "I told Pentel what to do with their pens. And they did it." [3] He also started Archie Boston Graphic Design, an advertising and design consultancy, taking on clients beginning in 1973. [1] [3]

In 1972, at age 29, Boston became the president of the Art Director Club of Los Angeles, the second-largest in the nation, and was the first black president in the organization's 28-year history. [2]

Design Educator

Boston first began teaching when he was 23 at Chouinard Art Institute. [1] After receiving his master's degree from the University of Southern California in 1977, [4] he began a 32-year-long stint as a full lecturer in the Department of Art at California State University, Long Beach. [1] In 1978 he helped to found the design department that later became the Visual Communications Design program. [1] During his time at Cal State Long Beach, he served 12 terms as the department chair. [1] [3] He retired from teaching in 2009. [3]

Impact and legacy

During his first sabbatical at California State University Long Beach, Boston realized the documentary, 20 Outstanding Los Angeles Designers. For this film, he interviewed leading Los Angeles designers including Saul Bass, Marion Sampler, Robert Miles Runyan, [3] Louis Danziger, April Greiman, [11] among other designers. The proceeds from the resulting documentary funded a scholarship for design students in need. [3] [11]

In 2018, with his brother David, he co-produced and served as creative director on the documentary, Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City. The film chronicles the pioneering work of activist members of the Black community members in St. Petersburg, Florida [6]

Recognitions and accomplishments

External resources

Related Research Articles

Stefan G. Bucher is an American writer, graphic designer and illustrator. He works through his design studio, 344 Design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">April Greiman</span> American designer

April Greiman is an American designer widely recognized as one of the first designers to embrace computer technology as a design tool. Greiman is also credited, along with early collaborator Jayme Odgers, with helping to import the European New Wave design style to the US during the late 70s and early 80s." According to design historian Steven Heller, “April Greiman was a bridge between the modern and postmodern, the analog and the digital.” “She is a pivotal proponent of the ‘new typography’ and new wave that defined late twentieth-century graphic design.” Her art combines her Swiss design training with West Coast postmodernism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucian Bernhard</span> German artist

Lucian Bernhard was a German graphic designer, type designer, professor, interior designer, and artist during the first half of the twentieth century.

Sheila Levrant de Bretteville is an American graphic designer, artist and educator whose work reflects her belief in the importance of feminist principles and user participation in graphic design. In 1990 she became the director of the Yale University Graduate Program in Graphic Design and the first woman to receive tenure at the Yale University School of Art. In 2010 she was named the Caroline M. Street Professor of Graphic Design.

Lorraine Wild is a Canadian-born American graphic designer, writer, art historian, and teacher. She is an AIGA Medalist and principal of Green Dragon Office, a design firm that focuses on collaborative work with artists, architects, curators, editors and publishers. Wild is based in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Dayton</span> American illustrator, artist and graphic designer

Warren Dayton is an American illustrator, artist and graphic designer best known for his posters from psychedelic art era, a pioneer of the use of T-shirts as an art medium, creator of corporate branding & logos such as Thomas Kinkade’s Lightpost Publishing, and internationally award-winning book, editorial, commercial illustration and typography. Dayton's work ranges from funny and whimsical drawings used in many magazines and books, corporate branding and logos to illustrated features and books that have been honored by selection in design competitions and earned grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has authored and illustrated several books that have become collectors items; he continues to illustrate murals, posters and books. He founded Artifact, Ink studios in 2001 and currently works in the studio in the Sierra Foothills with several other artists and designers.

Katherine McCoy is an American graphic designer and educator, best known for her work as the co-chair of the graduate Design program for Cranbrook Academy of Art.

Sadamitsu "S. Neil" Fujita was an American graphic designer known for his innovative book cover and record album designs.

Roy Kuhlman was an American graphic designer.

George Elliott Olden was an American graphic designer who worked in television and advertising. Working at CBS, Olden helped to create the visual identities of shows such as Gunsmoke, I Love Lucy, and Lassie. In 1963, Olden became the first African-American to design a postage stamp, creating a design commemorating the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation. Olden was an AIGA medal-winning graphic designer, and a Japanese magazine, Idea, once listed him among the top fifteen designers in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Sussman</span> American environmental graphic designer

Deborah Sussman was an American designer and a pioneer in the field of environmental graphic design. Her work incorporated graphic design into architectural and public spaces.

Louise Sandhaus is an American graphic designer and design educator. She is a professor at California Institute of the Arts and is principal of Louise Sandhaus Design.

William Etienne "Bill" Pajaud was an African-American artist, primarily working in watercolor, known for his paintings exploring themes of jazz. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, and died in Los Angeles, California, on June 16, 2015, at the age of 89. He was the curator of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Fine Art Collection.

Carbone Smolan Agency is an independent branding agency founded in 1976 in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Danziger</span> American graphic designer and design educator

Louis Danziger is an American graphic designer and design educator. He is most strongly associated with the late modern movement in graphic design, and with a community of designers from various disciplines working in Southern California in the mid-twentieth century. He is noted for his iconoclastic approach to design, and for introducing the principles of European constructivism to the American advertising vernacular.

Art Sims is an African-American graphic designer and art director born in Detroit, Michigan in 1954. Sims is well known for his poster designs for classic African-American films, including Do the Right Thing (1998) and The Color Purple (1985). He is the CEO and co-founder of 11:24 Design Advertising in Los Angeles. Throughout his career, Sims has committed to promoting and making visible African-American art and culture. His work is part of the permanent collection of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the National Mall.

Clive Piercy was a British-American designer, author, and design educator, active for four decades in London and Los Angeles. He was noted for his use of typography, his color sense, his visual wit, and for bringing a British sensibility to the California aesthetic.

Emmett R. McBain Jr. was an African-American graphic designer and art director.

Joseph Binder was an Austrian graphic designer and painter. He is recognized as one of the pioneers of the modern poster, noted for his refined, stylized images and high-impact colors. Some of his best known works include posters for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the U.S. Army Air Corps and the American Red Cross.

Noreen Morioka is an American graphic designer and co-founder of AdamsMorioka. She is recognized for her distinct California-influenced approach to visual communications. In 2014, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) awarded the AIGA Medal to Morioka and her business partner Sean Adams for their contributions to graphic design. At present, she is Chief Creative Officer at The New Computer Corporation and frequently serves as competition juror and lecturer.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rapp, Alan (September 1, 2008). "Archie Boston's Design Journey". AIGA. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "No One Can Suppress Archie Boston". Tampa Bay Times. 30 December 1972. p. 27. Retrieved 2022-02-13– via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 "2021 AIGA Medalist: Archie Boston Jr". www.aiga.org. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Archie Boston papers, 1963-2018 and undated - Archives & Manuscripts at Duke University Libraries". David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Retrieved 2022-01-25.
  5. 1 2 3 "The Provocative and Prescient Work of Archie Boston Jr". Eye on Design. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  6. 1 2 "Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City". WFLA. 2018-02-26. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
  7. 1 2 "2021 AIGA Medalist: Archie Boston Jr". www.aiga.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Donovan, Harrell (February 25, 2018). "Black pioneers inspire brothers". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida. p. B1, B9. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "22nd Street South is a Relic of African-American History". thebradentontimes.com. 18 June 2015. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  10. ↑ "Advertising: The 'Have a Happy Day' Agency; Carson/Roberts Has an Unusual Type of Personality". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  11. 1 2 "20 outstanding Los Angeles designers". calarts.on.worldcat.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  12. ↑ "Fellow Award | AIGA Los Angeles". losangeles.aiga.org. Retrieved 2022-02-28.
  13. ↑ Champagne, Christine (2017-01-05). ""Real Mad Men Of Advertising" Chronicles The Ad Industry's Formative Years". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-03-26.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.