Responsibility, Skill, and Speed: The Story Behind the Iconic DMCI Logo

Photo courtesy of DMCI Holdings, Inc.

Did you know that Engr. David M. Consunji, the Grandfather of the Philippine Construction Industry, personally designed the iconic logo of his company, DM Consunji, Inc. (DMCI)?

In his memoir A Passion to Build, Engr. Consunji shared how the idea came to him during a trip to Japan. There, he met with leaders of two of the country’s top contractors, Obayashi and Nishimatsu, who impressed upon him the significance of a company logo.

“I noticed that they had their company logo on their calling cards and they told me that in Japan a logo is very significant. It is the visual symbol of what a company stands and strives for,” he recalled.

When he returned home, he set out to create one for DMCI. The process took him six months.

The Meaning Behind the Logo In Engr. Consunji’s words:

“Our company logo is predominantly blue because blue is the color of service and construction is about service.

“The rectangle represents responsibility in absolute terms. It is closed, complete. To me, being responsible is the first and most important attribute of a builder. He is responsible when he has all the resources of a builder — knowledge, experience, materials, and equipment — and when he harnesses these resources to do the job competently and completely.”

“The ellipse, to my mind, is a representation of skill. Skill translates to grace, elegance, beauty. Work done with skill is beautiful. And a good builder should always strive for a beautiful structure.”

“The third important attribute of a builder is speed, which is possible only if he has skilled workers and all the right tools. To represent speed, I used the rocket, which is the fastest vehicle man has invented.”

“With a little imagination, the letters DMCI may be discerned from the logo.”

A Symbol that Endures

Apart from the logo, Engr. Consunji also wrote the DMCI Creed, a guiding set of principles that captured his vision of what it means to be a true builder.

From its humble beginnings in the late 1940s with a second-hand Jaeger one-bagger concrete mixer, DMCI would become one of the Philippines' leading engineering-based integrated construction companies and the pioneering force behind some of the biggest and most complex infrastructure projects in the Philippines.

Today, DMCI has grown into one of the country’s biggest conglomerates, the DMCI Group of Companies, yet the principles of responsibility, skill, and speed remain at the heart of its identity.