Phillip Boydell


Phillip Boydell was a British designer and illustrator.

Life and work

Boydell was born on 21 May 1896 in Tyldesley Lancashire, to Oliver Boydell and Merinda. He obtained a scholarship at the Manchester School of Art, but his studies were interrupted by conscription in 1914. During his service in the Royal Navy, his vessel the tugboat HMS Blackcock was lost off Murmansk in winter, but Boydell lived to tell the tale, and was able to continue his education at the Royal College of Art.
In 1923 he married sculptor Bertha White.
In 1926 he was offered the position of Art Director at the London Press Exchange, and was on the Board of Directors when he retired in 1961.
Boydell is best known for two posters and a typeface.
He died at home in 1984.