Archie Boston

A portrait of Archie Boston. Retrieved from https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-archie-boston

Who is Archie Boston?

 During 1943 in the segregated town of Clewiston, Florida, Archie Boston was born, but was raised in St. Petersburg. Boston’s father, a sugarcane sharecropper, and his mother, who took care of their home, instilled the importance of valuing education in the minds of their six children, which played a pivotal role in Boston’s life (2008). Boston’s talented painting and drawing skills led him to be accepted into Chouinard Art Institute, known today as CalArts, which is where his older brother Bradford also graduated from. During his senior year, Boston secured an internship at the Carson/Roberts advertising agency and finished Chouinard Art Institute with a “...BFA degree in Advertising Design with Honors” (Daniel, 2013). 

 

Early in his career, Boston was bouncing between various advertising and design studios before collaborating with Bradford to establish their own advertising agency called “Boston & Boston” in 1963. Being a Black owned and led agency, they struggled to secure clients because of the constant racism Boston faced working in a White dominated field, albeit they did not let this stop them. Later, he separated from Boston & Boston, and returned to designing at Carson/Roberts, and eventually worked for eight years at Botsford Constantine and McCarthy. Boston also created his own advertising and design consultancy, Archie Boston Graphic Design (2008). 

Not only was Boston a designer, but he was also a teacher to many. Boston had experience

teaching at Chouinard when he was 23, and by 1977 he became a “...full lecturer in the Department of Art at California State University Long Beach (CSULB)” at the age of 34. Boston helped develop the Design program at CSULB, and served 12 terms as “...chair of that program”, leaving monumental impacts on design education during his time there (2008). Boston’s hard work did not go unnoticed, in 2004 he was awarded Outstanding Professor of the Year at CSULB. Boston had many accomplishments, one of them being the First African American recipient of the prestigious American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Fellow Award (McDonald, 2019).

 A 1973 Pental Pen Package Design Where Archie Boston was the Art Director/Designer. Retrieved from https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-archie-boston

Designs and Impact

Archie Boston is a graphic designer and is the embodiment of “bold design”. Boston pushes boundaries and challenges people to the point of discomfort. Boston urges his audience to check their own prejudices and unlearn racism with the use of satire as the viewer develops a deeper understanding of his designs. A big barrier that Boston and many other Black designers and people of color designers face today is racism. However, Boston translated the racism that impacted him by creating self-promotional posters for Boston & Boston (2008) and Archie Boston Graphic Design. Utilizing his Blackness in a creative way, he designed an outlet to combat racism. This opened up a dialogue that connected him with various open-minded clients that were excited to partner with his firm(s) because they were in awe at their courage and wanted to collaborate with them “...in spite of what others thought” (Daniel, 2013).

In one of these self-promotional ads, he and his brother stood side by side with a “for sale” sign as if they were slaves in an auction. Under each of their pictures is a physical description of them and their design skills.

A 1967 Self-promotional advertisement for Boston & Boston. Retrieved from https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-archie-boston

In another self-promotional ad, this time for Archie Boston Graphic Design, Boston features himself, and immediately captures the viewers’ attention with the words: “I don’t want to marry your daughter”. He follows up the statement with a message letting the viewer know that he rather be their creative consultant and shares what he can do for them. Boston even adds a joke at the end stating that in consideration of how high the divorce rate is, he might be able to take their daughter seriously in the future.

A Self-promotional advertisement for Archie Boston Graphic Design. Retrieved from https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/september-2013/four-corners-an-interview-with-archie-boston/

One of Boston’s well-known advertisements is a composition that he created for Pental, which boldly states in the title, “I told Pentel what to do with their pens”. Through this ad, Boston disrupts the narrative that invisibilizes advertising executives, and by including and centering his own picture, he is making a statement that the Black people working in the advertising industry matter. (McDonald, 2019).

Archie Boston’s 1971 advertisement for Pentel. Retrieved from https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-archie-boston

Boston was a well-known designer, professor, and mentor; that had a long-lasting impact on the design field. He utilized his Black identity to creatively challenge norms and oppressive systems. It is important to learn about influential designers like Boston. Especially since Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) designers are faced with many different levels of adversities to overcome, and yet they still continue to have significant impacts and contributions to the design field. Boston’s contributions not only benefited himself and his community, but also the future generations to come. Boston recognized the importance of representation and has said, “It is important for young designers to have role models of their so-called ethnicity. This gives them the feeling, ‘If he or she can become this, so can I’” (2008). Unfortunately, the value of representation is often overlooked, but has the power to positively influence future BIPOC designers. This is why it is important to recognize and celebrate designers like Archie Boston.

(Written by Meron Solomon)

References

Archie Boston's Design Journey. (2008, September 1). Retrieved June 7, 2020, from https://www.aiga.org/design-journeys-archie-boston

Daniel, J. (2013, September 3). Four Corners - an interview with Archie Boston. Retrieved June 10, 2020, from https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/september-2013/four-corners-an-interview-with-archie-boston/

McDonald, A. (2019, September 12). New Exhibit: "No One Can Suppress Archie Boston". Retrieved June 7, 2020, from https://blogs.library.duke.edu/rubenstein/2019/09/12/new-exhibit-no-one-can-suppress-archie-boston/