We are committed to creating a better world through branding and design.
Brands become part of people’s lives in rich and meaningful ways. This makes the act of branding both an honor and a responsibility. We use what we’ve learned from psychology, behavioral economics, and the rest of the social sciences to help our clients build brands that align with their customers’ values and that people are proud to support.
5% for Nonprofit
In addition, we’ve committed ourselves to offer 5% of our time for free to nonprofits all over the world. If you’re a nonprofit brand interested in deepening your relationship with stakeholders and inspiring your donors, reach out to us to discuss ways we might be able to work together.
Past Clients
Our Values
Integrity
Our shared integrity guarantees the value of our output. We seek out success, but we do not sacrifice our standards to accomplish it. We recognize that the easiest path is not necessarily the right path and that some decisions can cost us. But there is no greater feeling than knowing we put everything we had into making our work the best it could be.
Bravery
Believing in an idea requires a great deal of bravery. People may disagree with, mock, or discount our ideas, but we persist. We offer our clients meaningful solutions even if they want to only check a box. We value bravery in our creative exercises, our relationships, and in the way we run our business. We call out offensive behavior. We work through conflicts and we strive to treat everyone fairly. Even if we’re unsure, scared, or nervous, we pursue what is right.
Curiosity
We should always be learning–whether in formal or informal ways, from books or classes. In short, we value and prioritize curiosity. This curiosity drives our learning and accelerates our development. We are always seeking to expand and improve how we see the world.
Growth
Threadline is a place to grow. We value continuous improvement, training, and reflection. We prioritize feedback and are also proactive in nurturing and helping each other develop. We are able to learn, master, and become something greater. As Hemingway wrote, “There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
Impact
At Threadline, we recognize that we are neither just innocent bystanders nor a fly on the wall. We take charge of, and responsibility for, the impact we have on each other, our communities, and the world. We look to expand–or reduce–our impact, as appropriate. Our aim is to improve the world through our work and through the way we run our business.
Creativity
Creativity comes in many forms. Threadline values all of them, whether they’re in the form of a PPT deck, a strategic recommendation, or an abstract piece of art produced by our team. While there is much that can be measured and observed in the world, it’s our perceptions of beauty that brighten our lives.
Community
Threadline seeks to intentionally steward and care for its community. This includes the community within our organization as well as our clients, neighbors, and families. And this demands that we prioritize relationships and create a safe space for those relationships to flourish. Most of all, we require respect and kindness in all that we do with, for, and to each other.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Threadline is built on and believes in nurturing diversity, equity, and inclusion among its staff and clients. This means that regardless of your gender identity, sexual identity, racial or ethnic identity, or your physical abilities, you are provided with the environment, resources, and respect to express yourself, to demonstrate your capabilities, and to be rewarded for your effort and output. We are an inclusive organization that appreciates our differences and celebrates our distinctions. We value each other’s cultures and are willing to learn about them. We tolerate opposing perspectives but don’t condone hatred. We are respectful, loving, and kind.
Our Team
Kristian A. Alomá, PhD
Founder & CEO
Kristian believes designing a successful relationship with customers requires the intentional and intelligent application of the social sciences. During his two-decade career in marketing, he has helped the world’s largest brands improve their relationships with customers by drawing on his academic experience in narrative psychology, identity, and behavioral economics. At the Kellogg School Center for Nonprofit Management, Kristian is a lecturer helping nonprofit leaders learn to improve their brand narrative and enhance the donor experience through mindful design.
With Caribbean roots, Kristian is used to loud conversations, delicious food, and hot weather. Two of these things he loves – and the other drove him to move to the snowy city of Chicago. Here he loves talking about the world and planning trips to explore different cultures with his partner and two children.
Madeline Duran
Director
Madeline finds people fascinating. That’s why she earned a degree in social anthropology from the University of Edinburgh. Since then, she has immersed herself in the application of the social sciences to help organizations find meaningful insights and translate them into real opportunities. Now an avid student of urban planning and placemaking, Madeline loves exploring the hidden corners of cities all over the world while drinking as much coffee as she can. When not working, you can find her somewhere in Brooklyn admiring dogs.
The latest at Threadline
Threadline provides meaningful, relevant, and inspiring ideas that will positively impact your business.
We hate ideas that are interesting just for the sake of being interesting. They may be novel, curious, or poetic but they fall flat beyond that. They are often a façade – the shell of an opportunity that was never fully understood or realized. For an idea to be valuable, it must drive the business toward its objective. It must make sense within the context of the business and inspire the team to take action.
At Threadline, ideas are only the beginning. We work with your team to open up the ideas, explore them, challenge them, roll them around in your hands, and make sure they don’t require a PhD to understand. We work together to build them with your team. Our aim is always to transfer knowledge so that your team can see new opportunities with fresh eyes. And our project isn’t considered a success if it doesn’t deliver on the three components of our MRI Model:
Be Meaningful: We use the social sciences – especially narrative psychology and behavioral economics – to get at the answer beneath the answer. We explore how people think, how they define themselves, and how they relate to your brand so that you can feel confident that you truly know what’s going on in their minds.
Be Relevant: Ideas are great but if they don’t actually address your business issues, then they’re pointless. We get to know you, your team, and your business so that our recommendations not only address your objectives but they actually feel like a feasible set of proposals your team will want to execute. We put our creativity to work, designing solutions you can use.
Be Inspiring: We make sure the theories, the principles, and the emotions make their way back to the surface where reality exists. We may have advanced degrees – but we don’t think you should need one to take advantage of them. We lay out ideas clearly, we limit the psycho-babble, and we explain how what you do next will transform your business.