This collection consists of various visual advertisements designed by McBain, primarily print ads, transparencies of bill boards and record album covers. Many of the ads were marketed specifically at the African American community, including McDonald's print ads, and a black Marlboro Man in a series of ads for Philip Morris. The materials range in date from 1962 to 2000.
Not all materials in the collection have been digitized. To use the full physical collection in person, please consult the Emmett McBain design papers finding aid.
Emmett McBain was born in 1935 in Chicago and attended Sexton Elementary School and Tilden Technical High School. He then studied advertising design at Ray Vogue Art School, American Academy of Art, and the Illinois Institute of Technology. McBain became a prominent African American advertising designer, working as a designer for Vince Cullers and Associates, an art supervisor for J. W. Thompson in Detroit, and a creative consultant for Soft Sheen Products. In 1971 he opened Burell McBain advertising with his business partner Thomas Burell. The agency worked with many major companies including McDonald's, Philip Morris, and Coca-Cola. In 1974 Emmett McBain left the agency to pursue a career in art. He has since lived and painted in Chicago's Hyde Park.