It's been a long time coming, but I finally did it. After over 2 years of using the same personal brand, I decided it was time for a change. With months of planning, designing, and implementing, this is the story of my personal rebrand, which I call "Ecliptic". It's a new chapter in my online brand; but with the same goals as before.
I have seperated this blog in multuple parts, each representing a small key to my brand.
Username
I decided to begin with my username since it seemed like the part of my brand that had been affected the least—or at least that’s what I initially thought. The biggest challenge I ran into was with my GitHub username. At the time, I was using GabsEdits, which, if I’m being honest, didn’t make much sense. I don’t do “edits” or anything even remotely connected to that, so it felt like a leftover from a past that never really existed. It was clear that it was time for a change.
The first idea that came to mind was gxbs. It was short, clean, and felt like a natural extension of my identity. When I checked it on GitHub, it led to a 404 error page, which made me think it wasn’t taken. Perfect, right? Well, not quite. After reaching out to GitHub Support, I found out that the username was actually tied to a private profile. A profile so private, in fact, that it didn’t even show up publicly, which is why it led to the 404 error. That was... disappointing.
I decided to search for something else that would make sense and still feel connected to me. That’s when the idea struck: why not base my username on my domain, gxbs.dev? It felt personal, professional, and perfectly aligned with the direction I wanted my brand to take. The only problem? GitHub usernames don’t allow dots (.), so I had to make some adjustments. The final result was gxbsdev. It’s simple, easy to remember, and most importantly, it’s mine. With that, the first step of the rebrand was officially complete, and I could finally cross it off my to-do list.
Profile Picture
In my opinion, this is the most important part of the rebrand. It wouldn't be a personal brand without a profile picture, right? Something that represents me, my values, and my vision. Something that people can recognize and associate with me.
For the past 2 years, I’ve been using one that was generated by AI, and while it served its purpose, it’s always felt a bit impersonal. The image depicted a person looking at a rocket launching into the sky—a metaphor for looking toward the future. It was meaningful, sure, but it wasn’t me. It was time for something fresh, something that truly reflected my identity.
So, I finally decided it's time to create a new profile picture. I opened Figma, ready to create a new Pfp from scratch. The possibilities felt endless, but also overwhelming. Where to begin? I didn’t have a clear vision yet, so I started by experimenting with my brand’s signature accent color, Burnt Sienna, and some simple shapes—circles, to be exact.
The first prototype was... underwhelming:
Just a plain, uninspired circle. It felt lifeless, like a placeholder rather than a statement. I knew I could do better.
Next, I tried to get creative by turning the circle into something more intricate—a brain (or a wallnut). The idea was to symbolize creativity and thoughtfulness, but the execution? Let’s just say it didn’t quite land:
While it was a step forword from the first one, it still felt off. The brain shape was too abstract, and just I didn't feel like it represented me. The worse part it didn't even look that close to a brain. It was more like a scribble, a chaotic jumble of lines and curves. I mean, I get it, brains are complex, but this was just... messy.
Then came the idea of a target. It felt bold, focused, and intentional—qualities I wanted to convey. Here’s how that turned out:
As I looked at it, I imagined the "Target" supermarket logo, which just didn’t sit right with me. And the plus at the center? It was just to hide the fact that it's almost the same as the Target logo.
As you might know, I'm a Hack Club member, and as I was chatting around on Slack, I saw a nice little profile picture on the right side; It was Emma's profile picture, which featured a beautifully minimalistic design. It sparked an idea: what if I incorporated three moons into my design? The moons would represent the ecliptic—the path of the moon around the Earth—and add a touch of celestial elegance.
And it hit me, this was finally the direction I wanted to go in, I started sketching out the moons, playing with their sizes and positions. I wanted them to be simple yet meaningful, a nod to my fascination with space and the universe. The moons would symbolize growth, change, and the cyclical nature of life—qualities that resonate deeply with me. In a few minutes, I had a new prototype ready:
It was clean, modern, and meaningful. But something still felt off. It lacked texture, a sense of depth. So, I added a subtle noise effect, which gave it a bit of character without overwhelming the design. The noise acted like the stars in the night sky, adidng a "touch of magic" to the overall look. It was the final touch that made it feel complete.
This was it. The perfect balance of simplicity and personality. I couldn’t have been happier with the result.
The final dilemma? Deciding whether to use the light or dark version. Personally, I prefer light mode, but the dark version felt more professional and sleek. I asked around in Snug Nook, and Daudix told me, and I quote "use light for chatting apps and dark for professional or something like that". He was right, of course. That was the perfect solution, why choose between them, when I can use both? So, it was a win-win situation, allowing me to express different facets of my identity depending on the context.
With that, my profile picture was ready, but, it wasn't that simple. After having more then 3 years together with the old one, it was hard to let it go. I decided to gradually transition to the new one, platform by platform, starting with the ones I use the less, till the ones I use the most. It was a bittersweet moment, saying goodbye to the old profile picture, but also exciting to try a new look.
Fediverse
I've been on the fediverse for quite some time, and I started my journey on fosstodon.org, a pretty nice instance, used it for one year. Until I got bored, and went on searching for another instance, and found vmst.io, another simple, tech-orientated instance. It was a great place to connect with like-minded individuals, and I enjoyed my time there, but I always felt a pull toward experimenting with something more personal.
Now, I don't have a specific reason to migrate to a new one, until I did. As mentioned in my last blost, I've created my own little server, where, I wanted to try hosting a fedi instance. I wanted something lightweight, to try as an experiment, so I found GoToSocial, a lightweight fedi instance that can be containerized. The idea of running my own instance felt empowering, as it gave me full control over my online presence and the ability to shape the experience exactly how I wanted.
My first attempts didn't go that well, but, I had found a way out, to use my newly made Coolify instance! It went pretty easy, as all I had to do is paste a docker compose file, and that's it! The process was surprisingly smooth once I got the hang of it, and it was exciting to see everything come together.
It went very well, and it even started federating! At the time of writing this post, it has over 500 instances with which it's federated with! An impressive milestone for me. Watching the federation grow was a rewarding experience, as it felt like I was contributing to the larger fediverse ecosystem in my own small way.
I've named it "Micro Expression", coming from the idea of what fediverse is intended for, the small, authentic moments that reflect one’s true self, an expression. (Yes, I really tried being poetic). The name felt fitting, as it mentioned the essence of what I wanted my instance to represent — a space for genuine, unfiltered interactions.
Of course, I had no issues with vmst.io, I mainly switched for fun, I wanted (and still want) to have the experience to self-host my own little island on the fedi, alongside the many others.
With that, the third task is complete, a minor task, yes, but a fun one nonetheless.
Website
This was one of the most intresting parts of the rebrand. While it's not a complete overhaul, it was a pretty significant change. More specifically, the homepage got a complete redesign, from the ground up. While the rest of the website was pretty good, the homepage was not only outdated, but it was also just plain boring. It had a long essay about me, which:
- None will read it
- It was not really interesting
This alone was a good enough reason to change it. So once again, I opened Figma, and started designing a new homepage. My idea was to mix and match many personal websites' homepages, and see what I can come up with. I wanted something simple, yet effective, that would showcase my work and interests without overwhelming visitors.
After a bunch of edits on figma, I finally the homepage was a good resume about myself, without being too long, and with a clear links, and tables where the most inportant things are. I was quite happy with the result, and I couldn't wait to implement it.
As for the backend of the website, I decided not to change it, and kept ApDlós as the theme, just with some paint on top with the custom homepage. I was quite happy with the result, and I couldn't wait to see it live.
Final Thoughts
With that, I can finally say that the rebrand is complete. It was a long journey, and maybe a end of a chapter, the blue profile picture is long gone, and the new one is here to stay. This blog post has been in the makings for more then 8 months, ever since I started the rebrand journey. I am happy to say that, in these 8 months, I have managed to make something that I am proud of, and I hope you like it too.
While the brand has changed, my core values remain the same, and I am still the same person. I am still the front developer you knew, just with a different coat of paint.
As always, I couldn't have done it all without the help of my friends over at Snug Nook, who helped me with the design and the ideas, and even voted each and every change that I made since I can't decide on my own. Thanks for reading this blog post, and I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any feedback, I am happy to hear it, hopefully we will meet again in the next blog post, which not even I know what it will be about. Until then, take care and have a great day! 👋