Design Adjacent with AIGA Medalist Archie Boston on design spirituality, art, culture, and industry, learning for the sake of knowledge, capturing history, and helping others through design

Archie is a nationally known art director, designer, author, business owner, and educator. He was chair of the Graphic Design Program at California State University Long Beach for 12 terms and was named Outstanding Professor of the Year in 2004. He has also operated his design-consulting firm, Archie Boston Graphic Design, since 1972. He was the first African American recipient of the prestigious AIGA Fellows Award from the Los Angeles Chapter of AIGA in 2007. The Fellows Award recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to raise the standards of excellence in practice and conduct within their local or regional design community. In 2021, he was the recipient of the AIGA Medal for expanding voice—he was recognized for his longstanding commitment to his students as an educator, mentor, and profound influence on the community of Los Angeles, as well as his bold, funny, polemical designs from a lifetime body of work.

Archie and his brother, David, are the creative force that created the 2016 documentary, Black Pioneers of the Sunshine City, which has been shown on WEDU in the Central Florida area during Black History Month, since 2017. He was also interviewed and his posters were featured in the documentary, The Real Mad Men of Advertising of the 1960’s, which was donated to The Smithsonian Museum in 2018.

As one of the few African-American graphic designers in California, he impacted generations of designers as an educator, writer, and designer.

About AIGA Design Adjacent

AIGA Design Adjacent is a monthly podcast series with AIGA’s Executive Director, Bennie F. Johnson, in conversation with industry leaders who are innovating and designing the future. These conversations expand beyond the design community, encompassing industries and areas that intersect with design and shift the ways in which we think about and interact with each other and the world around us.

About Bennie F. Johnson

Bennie F. Johnson is the Executive Director of AIGA, the professional association for design. Bennie thrives on the connections between marketing, technology, education, and innovation. With experience in strategic and consumer marketing, brand management, and innovation management, he is drawn to opportunities that allow him to lead and create new modes for business engagement. He has broad experience growing brands, businesses, and organizations with a special focus on venture launch and brand relaunch business environments.