Alexander Isley leads our teams of designers, writers, and planners, establishing the strategic and creative vision in our work.

Alex first gained recognition in the early 1980s as the senior designer at Tibor Kalman’s influential M&Co. He also served as the first full-time art director of the funny and fearless Spy magazine, for which he was awarded gold and sliver medals from the Society of Publication Designers. He founded Alexander Isley Inc. in 1988.

Alex received a BED in environmental design from the North Carolina State University College of Design. He also holds a BFA from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York.

He has served as an adjunct professor at The Cooper Union and at the School of Visual Arts in New York, teaching courses in design and typography. He has been a lecturer and critic at the Yale Graduate School of Art since 1996.

Alex was selected as an inaugural member of “The I.D. 40,”
I.D. Magazine’s survey of the country’s leading design innovators. His work is in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, and SFMOMA, and has been exhibited at the Georges Pompidou Center and several museums within the United States. He recently completed his term as president of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) New York.

Alex lives in Connecticut with his wife Veronica and their three curious children. He is also a youth soccer coach. He is a better designer than he is a youth soccer coach.