I spent years building products, writing code, and shipping features — but I never really thought about how I presented myself visually. My GitHub profile, my talks, my social media… everything felt disconnected. At some point I realized I wanted something that tied it all together. Something that felt like me.
This is how the XergioAleX brand came to be.
Why I Decided to Build a Personal Brand
For most of my career, I let the work speak for itself. Repositories, deployments, products — that was my identity. And honestly, for a long time that was enough.
But as I got more involved in giving talks, writing, sharing open source projects, and building DailyBot as CTO and Co-founder, I started noticing that having a recognizable visual identity actually matters. Not in a superficial way — it’s just that when people see your content across different platforms, a consistent look helps them connect the dots. It builds familiarity.
So I decided to invest in it.
Why a Ninja?
The idea came pretty naturally. I’ve always liked the analogy of a ninja when thinking about how good engineers work:
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You move in silence — The best infrastructure is the kind nobody notices. The best code “just works.” You deploy, things scale, bugs get fixed… and ideally nobody had to panic about it.
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You never stop training — Staying relevant across AI, DevOps, full-stack, open source, and product development means you’re always learning. There’s no finish line.
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You’re ready for anything — My path has gone through robotics, distributed systems, trading algorithms, cloud infrastructure, developer tools, AI platforms… The ninja idea captured that range well.
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Code is your tool — Languages, frameworks, architectures — you pick the right one for the job and execute with precision.
It wasn’t just a “cool” concept. It genuinely resonated with how I see my work.
Working with Koru
I worked with Daniel Vasquez Correa (known as Koru), a graphic designer and illustrator based in Colombia. His style was a perfect fit — bold, modern, with great character work. Exactly what this concept needed.
I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Check out Koru’s work:
Breaking Down the Logo
Let me walk you through the different elements, because there’s a lot of thought packed into this design.
The Ninja Character
The central figure is a stylized ninja — hooded, sharp angles, leaning forward. It has that esports/gaming mascot vibe which I really like. The face is mostly hidden by the hood, with only the eyes visible. I like the idea that the work speaks louder than the person.
The <> on the Forehead
This is one of my favorite details. The angle brackets <> sit right on the ninja’s forehead — the universal symbol for code. It’s what turns this from just a ninja into a coder. Code is how I think, how I solve problems, how I build things. Having it literally on the forehead felt right.
The Shuriken X’s ✦
This one is pretty clever: the letter X in “XERGIO ALEX” is designed as a shuriken — a ninja throwing star. So the typography itself carries the brand concept. Every time you read the name, the ninja theme is right there in the letters.
The Banner
The name sits on a bold ribbon/banner below the character, giving the whole thing a badge-like feel. It’s inspired by esports team logos — dynamic, angular, and it looks good at pretty much any size.
Color Palette
Here are the colors that make up the brand. I gave them names because… why not.
Primary Colors
| Color | Name | Hex | RGB | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ninja Navy | #152E45 | 21, 46, 69 | The main color — ninja body, backgrounds, base surfaces | |
| Crimson Strike | #E51641 | 229, 22, 65 | The accent — highlights, energy, the things you want people to notice |
Ninja Navy is a deep dark blue. Think terminal at midnight. It carries most of the visual weight.
Crimson Strike is the pop of energy. It shows up on the ninja’s right side, the banner edges, and interactive elements on the site. A little goes a long way.
As the brand evolved on the website, I kept this accent dynamic by theme: the original Crimson Strike in light mode, and a slightly softer variant in dark mode to reduce visual fatigue on deep navy backgrounds.
Secondary Colors
| Color | Name | Hex | RGB | What it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Steel | #637996 | 99, 121, 150 | Depth and detail — the subtler stuff | |
| Void Black | #0F1124 | 15, 17, 36 | Deep shadows and dark backgrounds | |
| Pure White | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 | The <> symbol, eyes, highlights |
Shadow Steel adds depth to the ninja character — it models the left side while Crimson Strike hits the right, creating that sense of dimension.
Void Black is for the darkest areas. It’s what I use as the dark mode base.
Pure White is reserved for the key focal points: the code symbol on the forehead, the eyes, and major highlights. These are the elements your eye goes to first.
How to Combine Them
- Main pairing: Ninja Navy + Crimson Strike — this is the signature look
- Dark mode: Void Black background, softer Crimson accents (
#CD3553), white text - Light mode: White background, Ninja Navy text, Crimson Strike accents
- One rule: Don’t use Crimson Strike as a background for text — it’s an accent, not a surface
Implementation Note (Website)
In the current site implementation, accent classes (text-secondary, bg-secondary, border-secondary) use a theme-aware token:
- Light mode accent:
#E41541(Crimson Strike) - Dark mode accent:
#CD3553(softened Crimson for readability)
This keeps the brand identity consistent while making dark mode feel calmer over long reading sessions.
Logo Variants
The brand has a few different configurations depending on the context:
Full Logo (Lockup)
The complete thing: ninja character + name banner. This is what you use when you have space — headers, hero sections, presentations.
Isologo (Icon)
Just the ninja, no text. Good for favicons, app icons, social media avatars, and anywhere the full logo would be too small to read.
Ninja Face (Compact Icon)
A close-up of just the ninja’s face — even more minimal than the isologo. This is the version used in the site favicon and very small contexts where you only need the essence of the character.
Logotype (Wordmark)
Just the “XERGIO ALEX” text with the shuriken X’s. Works well for horizontal layouts, email signatures, or when you want something more subtle.
Small Version (Horizontal)
The ninja face paired with the text in a compact horizontal layout. This is the version you see in the site header — it works great for navigation bars and tight horizontal spaces.
Color Modes
Each variant comes in white (for dark backgrounds) and black (for light backgrounds).
Where I Use It
A quick rundown of how the brand shows up across different places:
Online:
- This website — header, hero section, favicon
- Social media profiles and banners
- GitHub repos and READMEs
Professional:
- Tech talks and conference slides
- Blog posts and articles
- Open source project documentation
Physical:
- Stickers (one of my favorites)
- Business cards
Quick Style Guide
Some basic guidelines for using the brand consistently:
Do:
- Use the full logo on dark backgrounds
- Keep clear space around the logo
- Use Crimson Strike for interactive elements (with the dark-mode softened accent on the website)
- Pair Ninja Navy with white text
Don’t:
- Stretch or distort the logo
- Use Crimson Strike as a text background
- Pull individual elements out of the logo
- Add effects like drop shadows or gradients
The logo text uses a custom typeface made for this brand. For everything else, clean sans-serif fonts work best alongside it.
What’s Next
For a while, this brand lived as a bunch of files in a repo and not much else. Now I’m actively using it everywhere — this website, my social profiles, my talks, everything.
It’s more than a logo to me. It represents how I approach my work: stay sharp, keep learning, execute with care. The ninja coder thing started as a fun idea but it’s become a real part of how I present myself to the world.
Let’s keep building.
Resources
- Branding Assets: github.com/xergioalex/personal-branding
- Logo Designer: Koru (Daniel Vasquez Correa) — Instagram · X
- Website: xergioalex.com