Alexander Isley is a designer and educator. He founded Alexander Isley Inc. in 1988.

Alex has taught at the School of Visual Arts and The Cooper Union. Since 1996 he has been a critic and lecturer at the Yale School of Art. His work is in the collections of the National Design Museum, The Library of Congress and MoMA. His firm is the recipient of a Federal Design Achievement Award.

He was an inaugural member of “The ID 40,” a survey of the nation’s most influential design innovators. In 1998 Alex was accepted to Alliance Graphique Internationale. He is past president of AIGA New York.

In this audio interview with Debbie Millman, Alexander Isley discusses his mom the "Grammar Slammer," the importance of being in-over-your-head, learning presentation from Tibor Kalman, the effort it takes to make things seem effortless, Spy Magazine, shameless self-promotion, salt-free potato chips and believing that people are inherently good.

Design Matters with Debbie Millman: Alexander Isley

Design Matters by Debbie Millman features interviews with designers, artists and cultural leaders, including Lawrence Weiner, Barbara Kruger, Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Kandel, Stefan Sagmeister, John Maeda, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Michael Arad, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Jonah Lehrer, among others.

In 2011, Design Matters received the People’s Design Award from the prestigious Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards.

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