Phillip Boydell was born on 21 May 1896 in Tyldesley Lancashire, to Oliver Boydell (a master decorator) and Merinda. He obtained a scholarship at the Manchester School of Art, but his studies were interrupted by conscription in 1914. Towards the end of his service in the Royal Navy, his vessel sank in winter off Murmansk, but Boydell lived to tell the tale, and was able to continue his education at the Royal College of Art. After qualification he started as a teacher at the Croydon School of Art and as a freelance designer for Rowntrees. Difficulties with his agent prompted him to look for a commercial job, which he quickly found at Publicity Arts Ltd. 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.

• The Squander Bug
  Squander Bug
  The Squander Bug was a World War II propaganda character created by the British National Savings Committee to discourage wasteful spending. Originally designed by freelance illustrator Phillip Boydell for press adverts, the character was widely used by other wartime artists in poster campaigns and...
  
  , a poster encouraging people not to spend money wastefully but invest in savings bonds, was so successful that derivatives were used in several other countries. This he created whilst in bed with influenza

• The Black Widow poster http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1029862/poster-keep-death-off-the-road/ http://ww2poster.wordpress.com/2009/12/22/phillip-boydell-b-1896/ for road safety which aroused controversy for its (in those days) relatively direct approach.

• The Festival http://www.paratype.com/fstore/fonts/Festival.htm http://www.linotype.com/3265/phillipboydell.html font was the official typeface for the 1951 Festival of Britain
  Festival of Britain
  The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition in Britain in the summer of 1951. It was organised by the government to give Britons a feeling of recovery in the aftermath of war and to promote good quality design in the rebuilding of British towns and cities. The Festival's centrepiece was in...
  
  , and was used in all the communications for the festival.

In 1923 he married sculptress Bertha White. He died at home in 1984.