I stumbled on casual and sporty graphic tees on Facebook. They were in shades of yellow, blue, gray, black and white, with the lines “I Run with Stallions,” “XS Luceat Lux 1956.” The label was simply BrandX.

My curiosity eventually led me to Nate Dy-Liacco, an advertising strategic planner.

I soon found out that he, together with his schoolmate Kirk Damasco, established BrandX, Xavier School’s official campus and lifestyle brand. It aims to celebrate Xavier’s unique Luceat Lux spirit.

BrandX is the answer to years of longing  for a branding campaign for one of Metro Manila’s pioneer Filipino-Chinese Catholic schools, whose origins date back to 1956.

“It was one of the Jesuit priests who kept mentioning the need to have the school’s colors translated into something the school community could  proudly show off to the world,” says Damasco.

“While other Jesuit schools have adopted the name ‘Ateneo’ through the years, Xavier remains unique in that it keeps its name as it wonderfully coexists with the Jesuit community,” says Dy-Liacco.

“But sadly, it has no solid school branding to boot,” he continues.

After successfully getting the green light from the school community late last year, Dy-Liacco and Damasco’s team (Xavierians themselves) immediately went to work.

The result? Modern design T-shirts, with Xavier school’s signature colors of blue and yellow, printed with the school’s stallion mascot. They debuted the shirts on the auspicious date of Nov. 11, 2011.

PE shirts

Long before BrandX came into the picture, Xavierians had to settle for their school PE shirts. It faithfully followed them through their academic life and successes from field trips and spelling bees to math contests and reunions.

“If people are proud to show off their Xavierian heritage, wearing something as simple as a PE shirt, why not give them something even better?” says Dy-Liacco of his inspirational idea for the BrandX project.

“It gives you great joy seeing people wearing BrandX outside the campus,” he adds.

“You’ll know a Xavierian when you see one when you’re shopping, strolling, or simply hanging out in the malls,” he says.

“For now, we have graphical tees. Tomorrow, we’ll never know what’s next,” says Dy-Liacco on the future of BrandX.

At P350, Xavierians can choose from two designs from the current summer collection. While they have sold out during the recent school fair, production for more stocks is on the works.

Dy-Liacco and his team are also maintaining BrandX’s strong online presence with its very own Facebook and Twitter pages. While Xavier School’s image now proudly reaches the world, the future of Xavierian pride and glory look good, quite literally.

BrandX wishes to thank Xavier President, Fr. Johnny C. Go, SJ and Treasurer, Frederick Tiu. The  tee collections are available at the AAXS office in Xavier School. Visit https://www.facebook.com/ brandx.xavier or follow on  Twitter at @BrandXXavier.