Alan Siegel
Encyclopedia
Alan Siegel is founder and Chairman of Siegel+Gale.
. The Labor Relations School was the ideal place for Siegel as he could afford it, work part time, and play basketball.
Alan was so thoroughly inspired and motivated by Cornell's students, professors, and the whole campus environment, he quit the Cornell basketball team after his freshman year, and plunged into academics. Besides the curriculum required for a degree in industrial labor relations, he studied art, literature, philosophy, and history. Having never truly applied himself in high school, Alan really couldn't write well. Fortunately, Siegel's fraternity brother in Zeta Beta Tau
, Robert Dudnick, recognized he was struggling and needed help. Dudnick showed him how to outline an essay, diagram sentences, and build logical cases; his critiques immediately helped Siegel's writing, which he would further refine in law school. In 1960, Siegel graduated third in his class from the Industrial Relations School and was vice president of the senior class.
Upon graduating from Cornell, Siegel was able to obtain a deferment from military service to remain close to his mother as she battled breast cancer. Siegel applied to NYU Law and was admitted. It was here that he learned about writing and thinking clearly, and about himself. He found that the part he enjoyed about law school was learning to think like a lawyer and work through complex fact patterns to solve problems. He stayed a year and a half and then took a leave of absence to accept his Army commission in 1962. Siegel trained at Fort Still, Oklahoma and was stationed with the 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 18th Artillery, in Butzbach, Germany.
While serving in Germany, Siegel developed a fascination for photography. "Photography opened up my creativity and a whole new side of my personality. [Until then] I never knew I was a creative person. I never thought of myself as a visual communicator or, really, a communications person." After he returned to the US, Alan decided not to continue on at NYU Law and chose to pursue a career in communications.
In the sixties Alan learned the ins and outs of the communications industry at agencies such as BBDO, Ruper & Finn, and Sandgren & Murtha. During this time he also met his wife, Gloria, with whom he has a daughter.
In 1974 Robert Gale sold off his part of the agency.
Throughout the decades, Siegel+Gale grew from a logo and design focused company to a master brand builder pioneering the development of corporate voice and simplification. Today the firm continues to lead the way in areas such as research, strategy, naming, simplification, design, and interactive.
Alan also continues to be a champion for simplicity and clarity, frequently appearing at events and in the media. Most recently he spoke about simplifying legal jargon at TED
2010, where in closing he stated, "There is no way that we should allow government to communicate the way they communicate. There is no way we should do business with companies that have agreements with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible. So, how are we going to change the world? Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority." Alan is also a regularly featured columnist in The Huffington Post
where he discusses simplicity as it pertains to current events and business trends.
Alan has written for The Wall Street Journal, including guides such as: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Money and Markets,, Writing Contracts in Plain English and Simplified Consumer Credit Forms. Siegel also authored One Man's Eye: Photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection and Step Right This Way: The Photography of Edward J. Kelty.
Early life
Alan Siegel was born August 26, 1938 to Eugene and Ruth Siegel in New York. Siegel attended Long Beach High where he played basketball under Robert Gersten. His dream was always to go to college on a basketball scholarship. After graduating from high school, Siegel matriculated at the Industrial Labor Relations School at Cornell UniversityCornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
. The Labor Relations School was the ideal place for Siegel as he could afford it, work part time, and play basketball.
Alan was so thoroughly inspired and motivated by Cornell's students, professors, and the whole campus environment, he quit the Cornell basketball team after his freshman year, and plunged into academics. Besides the curriculum required for a degree in industrial labor relations, he studied art, literature, philosophy, and history. Having never truly applied himself in high school, Alan really couldn't write well. Fortunately, Siegel's fraternity brother in Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau
Zeta Beta Tau was founded in 1898 as the nation's first Jewish fraternity, although it is no longer sectarian. Today the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is one of the largest, numbering over 140,000 initiated Brothers, and over 90 chapter locations.-Founding:The Zeta Beta Tau fraternity was...
, Robert Dudnick, recognized he was struggling and needed help. Dudnick showed him how to outline an essay, diagram sentences, and build logical cases; his critiques immediately helped Siegel's writing, which he would further refine in law school. In 1960, Siegel graduated third in his class from the Industrial Relations School and was vice president of the senior class.
Upon graduating from Cornell, Siegel was able to obtain a deferment from military service to remain close to his mother as she battled breast cancer. Siegel applied to NYU Law and was admitted. It was here that he learned about writing and thinking clearly, and about himself. He found that the part he enjoyed about law school was learning to think like a lawyer and work through complex fact patterns to solve problems. He stayed a year and a half and then took a leave of absence to accept his Army commission in 1962. Siegel trained at Fort Still, Oklahoma and was stationed with the 2nd Howitzer Battalion, 18th Artillery, in Butzbach, Germany.
While serving in Germany, Siegel developed a fascination for photography. "Photography opened up my creativity and a whole new side of my personality. [Until then] I never knew I was a creative person. I never thought of myself as a visual communicator or, really, a communications person." After he returned to the US, Alan decided not to continue on at NYU Law and chose to pursue a career in communications.
In the sixties Alan learned the ins and outs of the communications industry at agencies such as BBDO, Ruper & Finn, and Sandgren & Murtha. During this time he also met his wife, Gloria, with whom he has a daughter.
Siegel+Gale
In 1969 Alan Siegel and Robert Gale, a designer that Siegel worked with at Sandgren & Murtha, established their own agency, Siegel + Gale. Initially the agency drew in clients that were mostly interested in visual identities, but Alan wanted it to be much more.In 1974 Robert Gale sold off his part of the agency.
Throughout the decades, Siegel+Gale grew from a logo and design focused company to a master brand builder pioneering the development of corporate voice and simplification. Today the firm continues to lead the way in areas such as research, strategy, naming, simplification, design, and interactive.
Present day
Alan continues to work at Siegel+Gale New York serving as Chairman. He is active in the community serving on numerous boards and cultural organizations.Alan also continues to be a champion for simplicity and clarity, frequently appearing at events and in the media. Most recently he spoke about simplifying legal jargon at TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....
2010, where in closing he stated, "There is no way that we should allow government to communicate the way they communicate. There is no way we should do business with companies that have agreements with stealth provisions and that are unintelligible. So, how are we going to change the world? Make clarity, transparency and simplicity a national priority." Alan is also a regularly featured columnist in The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
where he discusses simplicity as it pertains to current events and business trends.
Alan has written for The Wall Street Journal, including guides such as: The Wall Street Journal Guide to Money and Markets,, Writing Contracts in Plain English and Simplified Consumer Credit Forms. Siegel also authored One Man's Eye: Photographs from the Alan Siegel Collection and Step Right This Way: The Photography of Edward J. Kelty.