Source: IU College of Arts and Sciences
Alexander Landerman is a lecturer and co-area head of Graphic Design in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design within the College of Arts and Sciences at IUB. He focuses on letterpress and how it can interact with other design styles. He is also a Career Connections Fellow, part of a group of nearly 400 College faculty members who redevelop courses with a focus on how they can make career skills already present in the courses more legible to students.
Alexander Landerman is a lecturer and co-area head of Graphic Design in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design within the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington. He focuses on letterpress—relief printing, involving pressing a raised, inked surface onto a medium—and how it can interact with other design modes and styles.
Notably, Landerman is a Career Connections Fellow, part of a group of nearly 400 College faculty members who put their heads together to redevelop courses with colleagues to focus on how they can make career skills already present in the courses more legible to students.
Landerman’s research is about how “antiquated” forms of graphic design, like letterpress and other forms of relief printing, can be combined with more modern techniques to leave a lasting impression on viewers.
What are you teaching right now, and why are you excited about it?
I am currently teaching Graphic Design III, which focuses on letterpress and other analog printing practices, as well as the BFA/MFA Graphic Design Seminar, where we focus largely on professional practice and theory.
I am always excited about letterpress because it is my primary area of research. Teaching it keeps me in constant conversation with a group of energetic and thoughtful students, which pushes my work forward while fueling their curiosity. In a similar way, the seminar creates space for us to recognize each other’s accomplishments while building a strong creative community.
What are you researching, and why is this impactful?
My research focuses on how emerging and established technologies can be combined with traditional forms of graphic design, specifically letterpress and relief printing, to create work that is more impactful and less ephemeral. In short, how do we make printed work using antiquated technologies that people want to engage with and cherish beyond their immediate use?
I also design and print for local nonprofits and touring bands, many of which my students already have relationships with, giving them a clearer sense of how this work operates in the world.
Tell us about your approach to, or philosophy about, mentoring students.
In teaching graphic design, it is important for me to remain actively engaged in the field so I can share current experiences and help students better understand how to navigate professional relationships in a constantly changing landscape.
It is difficult to speak to the impact of new tools or cultural shifts without experiencing them directly, so I work to remain active in the design community.
How does your work support a student’s academic journey and life after graduation?
Because graphic design is a highly sought-after career, many of our students are already working as interns or part-time professionals. I encourage this, as the field is broad and much of it is best understood through direct experience.
Nothing prepares a designer for life after graduation like working in the field. Additionally, it sets expectations and helps students mature in the classroom as well.