When one industry, like construction, influences so many industries; when the construction of every new office building influences the building trades; when every new house under construction influences trade at home and abroad, the need for a symbol that encapsulates so much with so little grows exponentially.

The construction industry has such a need. Construction executives must address that need with designs that denote action and connote, in two or three words, a multitude of feelings that translate into so many words. Symbols must say so much with the fewest words possible that say (and show) what is new and newsworthy. Simplicity is the best way to express the complexity of the construction industry.

The point is that a trillion-dollar industry can say more with less. Construction executives don’t need to spend tens of millions of dollars to find a way to deliver a message to the public when that message exists in the public domain: a black-on-orange sign in which the words speak for themselves, "men working." To make that sign more specific and inclusive have it say:

• Americans working;
• men and women at work; or
• at work.

Between the fluorescent backdrop and bold letters, the words brighten the walkways and roadways of America as much as they warm the hearts of most Americans. The words summarize the purpose of construction industry marketing and logos to communicate with concision and clarity about an issue that is clear for everyone to read and see: that construction is underway.

To see that sign before one sees the skyline is to know the construction industry is on the rise. To see that sign is to also know that construction executives know what to say: that construction continues to rise by showing and telling all passersby that workers have jobs; that employment rises with each new building that breaks ground; that the signs precede what will soon proceed, which is the mixing and pouring of concrete, the drilling of bedrock and the creation of a foundation.

That sign symbolizes many things, but it is not (nor should be) a metaphorical stop sign involving creativity. Which is to say construction executives can customize that sign—they can change its colors or fonts, or stamp their respective names or logos at the bottom—so it reflects light and enlightens people’s mind and so it inspires reflection and reminds people that the construction industry is alive and well.

Construction executives should adopt that sign. They have a duty to signal their intention through words and images that resonate with everyone who reads or sees that sign. What executives do not need to do is waste time and money on symbols too difficult to discern, too esoteric to explain and too ambiguous to articulate. What they must do is lead with a message that works, increases public works and says the obvious.