“Sometimes you have to take a beating.”

Creativity can be powerful. I learned this when my best friend of 15 years, Jason Olyaie, passed away. A unique mixture of stable and untethered, he earned the nickname ‘Freek’, or ‘Freeky Jay’ if you want to be formal. He stood about 5’ tall but commanded 8’ of respect.

Grief had me creating a custom script to learn how to use a Wacom tablet and Adobe Illustrator brushes just to stay active. My mind stayed occupied, until it didn’t — the script was done, now what?

I was taught to methodically craft a visual identity to tell a brand’s story. This was not that.

His former social media handle was @freekyfourfingers, so I strung together unrelated elements of his character and memory to create a concept brand. I needed a refined company with a wild side.

Enter the Yakuza and their ritual of atonement, ‘yubitsume’. Strength, loyalty, edge, four fingers…you get it. One of our youthful hobbies was drinking, so there it was: Fourth Finger Brewing Co.

This was the first concept brand I ever created. It’s also the only concept brand I’ve created, but it likely won’t be my last.

You never know when life is going to send you one of its trademark storms, but as a creative there is always something to harness and use.

Sometimes you have to take a beating.

*Jason was not a member of the Yakuza and had all of his fingers. No humans were hurt in the making of this project.