With regards to "branding", I agree with this comment elsewhere[1]:

I think the 'brand' problem people have with Medium is less "my post looks like the same as all of these other posts!" and more "when people want to read more of my posts, they're more inclined to go to medium.com instead of my personal site!".

Medium is a very compelling product, but it isn't for everyone. I'm not sure what your argument is, other than "Medium is misunderstood, so people should not create similar offerings."

I think the OP understands Medium, and opted to create something that would suit his needs as well as possibly others'.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6251620