Brand Themes for Multi-passionates (the art of throughlines)
Scattered passions, diverse skillsets and focus that seems to change every other week or month. There are too many epic things to do in this world…too many to just choose one.
But you’re not scattered. You’re authentic and creative. A multi-passionate that just needs a little fine-tuning.
Honestly, it took me years (decades) to figure myself out. But in that journey, I cracked a few codes that makes the multi-creator life a whole lot easier.
Brand themes, or throughlines, is one of those codes.
So if your domains feel disconnected, let’s fix that today. Time to make some freaking bridges!
Table of Contents
What Are Brand Themes?
Brand themes, or brand throughlines, are thematic elements that connect the different parts (or “realms”) of your personal brand.
For multi-passionates, these throughlines create bridges between otherwise separate niches, making everything feel way more cohesive and intentional.
Brand themes are less about what you do and more about how you do it (not in the literal/practical sense, but more like your vibe and style).
Again, they’re recurring themes, not whole domains.
Throughlines sit close to your personality, lifestyle, aesthetics and periphery interests.
Surprise! This is an exercise in brand self awareness.
But don’t worry, it’s painless ;)
Btw, if you’re not sure what your core niches are yet, check out my post on how to identify your multi-passionate niche. It segues nice into this post.
The Power of Clear Throughlines
Rather than trying to grow a brand willy-nilly (which I’m not totally against either, because f*ck it, have fun), knowing your throughlines makes the creator life easier.
Here’s the power of knowing your brand themes (especially for multi-passionates):
Clarifies and solidifies your brand identity
Establishes a signature style and look
Boosts your creator self awareness
More cohesiveness across all domains
Less scattered…ness and more intentionality
Adds structure and meaning to everything you do
How to Identify (+USE) Your Core Brand Themes: 6 Moves
1. Audit Your Past Work
Hindsight is 20/20. And looking through your past work (even the voice memos, doodles or demos from high school) gives you a lot of clues about yourself.
You may notice certain styles, themes, moods and topics that always show up.
Or you might rediscover parts about yourself you’d long forgotten.
Whatever you find, past work helps clarify core brand themes, because the best throughlines reflect innate personality quirks and the persistent things you do and love.
2. Define Your Personality
It’s surprisingly hard to be yourself…fully, I mean.
I mean, we’re trying to create a brand image that makes money and builds reputation and legacy over here! So over-curating yourself in a way that matches that ‘perfect ideal’ in your head is a common pitfall.
But I’ve found that focusing on personality is a nice grounding point.
Simply pay attention to how you act, talk and share the things you care about. If you’re naturally funny, lean into that.
But if being a philosophical stoic comes easy, don’t fight it.
Your natural personality quirks could be core brand themes.
For me, it’s my casual carefreeness and tendency to end up in a motivational monologue.
3. Clarify Your Aesthetic Style
Everyone has an aesthetic style. This includes everything from your room design, how you dress and your whole digital style.
For example, my websites and graphics are heavily inspired by zines, editorial design and punk-urban aesthetics.
This brand theme shows up in all of my work (for this site and beyond).
So, what’s your style? Because you definitely have a look and a vibe.
Note: brand themes can change and evolve, especially with personal branding. So think of them more like “eras” in your brand story—like Picasso’s blue period or David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust era.
4. Have More Than One Theme
If you’re multi-passionate, this should come as a relief (and if you’re not…well then, I don’t know, this may be unfortunate news).
But whoever you are, your life is likely multi-layered and nuanced. All of these life details are potential personal brand themes.
Each layer adds another unique authentic aspect to your personal brand. So don’t feel crazy when you end up with a list of like 10 things.
Try to dial it in as much as you can (looking for overarching macro themes), but fully lean into your true nature too.
For reference, I have about __ brand themes that consistently show up for me.
5. Test Themes Across Domains
“A good brand theme will show up consistently across all your domains and brand assets. If a theme doesn’t stay consistent between passions and projects, it’s probably not a core brand theme.”
As you define potential throughlines, do a quick litmus test for each one. Look for consistency.
For example, I love unpolished, off-the-cuff, scrapbook-style creativity. Like that burned CD from your one friend you sort of liked in high school (yes, I’m dating myself a bit here…).
But this theme shows up everywhere for me.
Here in Stuudios, it’s mixtape content. For my art/music brand, I have an ongoing series called Sketchbook EPs. And my travel site leans into postcard aesthetics and journaling.
On the other hand, I like fashion, but this theme only shows up loosely in my travel content and creative work…and not at all here. The same goes for deep esoteric topics (like the quantum universe). These ideas don’t show up here.
So fashion and woo-woo are just points of interests, individual quirks that elevate some of my sub-brands. Things could change, but for now, they’re not core throughlines.
So look for persistent brand themes (this might help you shrink that super long list too).
6. Take Note of Your Daily Life
If the goal is to show up online as authentically as possible, your normal boring daily life might help. Honestly, what better place to find personal brand inspiration?
So think about your social circles, the music you listen to, how well you dance alone, the food you cook, the places you go (or avoid)…the little things that might seem mundane, but actually add rich context and color to your canvas brand.
Just start paying attention. Become aware of the things you do, the ways you act and the habits you exhibit.
There are insights hiding in those “forgettable” moments.
