DESIGN: Archie Boston says, “Goodbye!”
I have a knack for meeting incredible people and quickly adopting them as lifelong friends. Archie Boston, a Los Angeles-based designer, author and educator is one of those people. Recently, I was talking to one of my fellow design critters, Alan Rapp, when I noticed a book on his desk, Fly in the Buttermilk by Archie Boston. Alan told me he had just finished writing Archie’s profile for the upcoming “Design Journey” Exhibit that opens on May, 19th at the AIGA headquarters in NYC. Then he told me that another fellow design critter, Mike Neal, was one of Archie’s students at California State University Long Beach. I approached Mike at the end of the Crossing the Line: The 2010 D-Crit Conference this past Friday told him we share a close friend Archie Boston. His face lit up like a Christmas tree, as he ranted about his thrill at having had Archie as a design teacher, and that he viewed him as a mentor and father figure.
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A few weeks ago Archie sent me an email with a post announcing his retirement from teaching after 30 years, and included a video of his last lecture. (See this remarkable man at work). I’ve know him for almost twenty years, we met when former graphic designer Fo Wilson and I co-curated an exhibition “21: African American Designers Challenge Modern Stereotypes,” held at Parsons School of Design in NYC, in 1991. The show featured his work and since that time we have remained design friends. Here’s a few samples of Archie’s work from his self-published book. And check out Archie’s award-winning designs, plus his videos clips from his DVD, “20 Los Angeles Designer”.
Contact: Archie Boston to order his book and his DVD’s.
Email: bostona@earthlink.net
Proceeds from Archie’s booksigning will be donated to the VCDA Student Group at CSULB.
Proceeds from this FU lecture DVD will be donated to the Archie Boston Graphic Design Scholarship Fund at California State University, Long Beach.
I would like to meet him. He sounds fabulous, and well respected. I hope he stays active in the design community as he moves to this new chapter in his life. Thanks for sharing this.
Archie is amazing, and he’s a wonderful person to know. I’m sure he’ll stay involved in design and if we’re all lucky he’ll probably produce a few more books as well. I love sharing the knowledge of wealth.