Notice anything different?

Since the new year, you may have noticed some new colors and styles popping up on our website and social media. We’re excited to announce the launch of Code.X’s first brand refresh since our inception in 2019, with the help of the wonderful Ina Siddiqui from the Parsons School of Design in New York City. Code.X’s logo, color palette, typeface, and more have all been given a style evolution, and we’re going to dive in together on the updates.

We’re growing up

Code.X’s original logo was created overnight in Google Slides by one of our founding members. We were recently incorporated and starting our first-ever friends & family fundraiser, meaning we needed something to represent our organization publicly. Our original logo was designed as a standalone, and we have shifted through several iterations of color palettes, fonts, and imagery since then as we found our identity as an organization.

Code.X has changed and grown immensely since 2019. We started operating only within the Palestinian West Bank and Gaza Strip, and now have experience offering youth education and international exchange programs in 6+ regions around the world. We have a more solid understanding of our own identity and ambition as we strive to create accessible tech education for young people everywhere.

Our mission

Every country should have the opportunity to participate in technology innovation.

Code.X envisions a future where countries around the world have equitable access to the education, tools, and resources required to create a flourishing technology sector that brings local prosperity and contributes to global development of new technologies.

Brand personality

When we started our redesign process, Ina interviewed Code.X’s internal stakeholders to understand how the organization has changed and matured since 2019. We put a lot of thought into how we wanted our audience to perceive us, and looked at our partners and competitors to understand how we fit into the global education landscape.

Our refreshed brand is a maturation of our previous style, not an abandonment. We maintain an approachable and inclusive personality, encouraging a diverse audience. Through this brand, we strive to foster an environment where learning is enjoyable no matter who you are or where you are starting your learning journey. To this end, our new branding merges humanist and geometric elements to create a friendly yet dependable demeanor. The humanist touch adds a layer of relatability and warmth, underscoring the importance of student and instructor experience within our educational programs. Concurrently, geometric elements convey precision and logical rigor, aligning with the disciplinary foundations of code and technology.

*The words that best represent Code.X and are incorporated throughout our new rebrand.*

Dynamic logo

Our new logo, characterized by its thick, geometric, and modular elements, embodies the essence of simplicity, friendliness, and strength. The geometric shapes within the logo convey a sense of order and structure, reflecting the precision and logic inherent in STEM education. The thick and robust lines symbolize our commitment to making an impact in challenging environments.

For the first time, we have several iterations of our logo to choose from depending on the use case: a horizontal primary logo, a condense primary logo, a secondary stacked logo, and a tertiary vertically stacked logo. We worked with Ina to create a custom type for our logo that draws upon modularity and stability to create “building block” letters that can be used in multiple settings. These standalone shapes that can be used as individual storytellers, placed or repeated in an effortless and playful way across our communications. We love how recognizable and versatile this new logo (and its alternates) is in comparison to our original logo, which was limited in its usability and could only be used with certain backgrounds and layouts.

Primary colors

Our new primary tones, selected for their adaptability and energy, inject a dynamic feel into our brand. To complement the primary tones, an off-white shade has been strategically incorporated. This off-white serves as a neutral backdrop, offering a touch of subtlety and sophistication to the overall palette. It provides a canvas for the vibrant tones to shine while adding a sense of harmony to the visual identity.

Our primary colors and logo can be combined together to create many delightful, eye-catching designs. This evolution of our brand is also significantly more accessible, as our new logo and color combinations follow WCAG guidelines.

*Some examples of color and logo combinations.*

Fonts

We didn’t forget about our typefaces! Code.X now uses Rubik and Open Sans for all communications. This typography style is influenced by Swiss poster design style of the 1950s. Simplicity and clarity are key principles of Swiss Style, which led to the use of sans serif typefaces, usage of asymmetrical grids, and strategically used whitespace.

Evolution

Our brand is evolving with us as we transform from a scrappy, volunteer-run team to an organized start-up with multiple lines of business. Like we said, this is a maturation, not an abandonment– we have taken our original branding and values and updated them into richer, more sophisticated forms! We will be slowly rolling out this branding update over the coming weeks, so stay tuned.

For those who have stuck with us since the beginning– thank you, as always, for your support. We hope you don’t miss our original logo too much. 🙂

P.S. If you are in need of a thoughtful, passionate, and skilled designer, we can’t recommend Ina enough. Check out her work at inasiddiqui.com.