Category: Four Fin Update

FINterview Series: Chiao Huang

What did you want to be growing up?

I was circling around between fashion, fine art, and design. But art was related for sure. 

Who do you look up to/ who is your role model? 

Definitely not Ariana Grande or some celebrities. I mean I love them, but people around me influence me the most. Surrounding myself around good people such as the Fins is one of the best methods I’ve found to improve myself. 

You’re a new Pantone color, what are you called? 

Cosmo Rhythm. Why? ‘Cuz no one knows what that is! Things don’t have to make sense all the time.

What do you like to do in your free time?  

I’m an adventurer. Also, I grew up in a scuba diving family so most things related to water grab my attention. Scuba/free diving, surfing. Besides that, plant shopping, coffee tasting, doing murals, and more. 

What’s your dream vacation?  

Diving with whales, dolphins, or any sea animal that’s bigger than humans. With everything included because a real dream vacation means no cares about money or all those logistic things. 

FINterview Series: Morgan Clark

Favorite thing about Four Fin?

The Fins! Insanely talented, down to earth good people, talk about a dream team!

What is your favorite food?

Fresh Mexican food – one of the many reasons I love living in San Diego!

What do you like to do in your free time?

Most weekends you can find me checking out a brewery with friends, flying home to wine country to see family, heading to dog beach with my puppy, Tucker, or at the ballpark for a Padres game!

Favorite Book (or Movie)?

Shoe Dog. I’ve played sports my entire life and Nike has always been a staple in that. Aside from my lifelong connection with Nike, I enjoyed reading the story behind the brand – guess I can thank “Just Do It” for fueling my love for branding!

FINterview Series: Rebecca Tall Brown

FINS_Square_Rebecca

What did you want to be growing up? 

I wanted to be President. My hand was perpetually raised in school, volunteering for anything that would get me out of my seat and into a new experience.

Favorite book or movie?

l always stop to watch Denzel’s portrayal of Frank Lucas in American Gangster. He built community and gave his family upward mobility which was all foiled by {spoiler alert} a full-length, $100k chinchilla coat.

Favorite thing about Four Fin?

Learning alongside other talented people who are also dedicated to great work – every time. The “get it right” culture prioritizes our clients needs. It energizes me daily.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Walking my sweet senior pups and catching stand-up comedy and live music with my husband, Erick. We went to the Sunset Bowl this autumn for our first live-show post Pandemic and it was magic.

FINterview Series: Aaron Van Fossen

FF_AVF_LinkedIn (1)
What is the most uncomfortable thing you have done? 

A cross-country Greyhound bus trip. Barely slept for days, narrowly missed being mugged, shared food with strangers, and used Google translate to make a new friend. Uncomfortable, but ultimately life-changing.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Lose my voice at live music shows. Live and die over the Green Bay Packers.

You’re a new Pantone color, what are you called?

Imperial Stout.

What is your dream vacation?

Japan. The food and the art. The gardens and parks. Super Nintendo World. Maybe tea with Hayao Miyazaki if he’s got time.

What is your favorite thing about Four Fin?

The great collection of people (and plants)

Making our own Waves

Photo by Philip Graves on Unsplash

Although we’re here to help our clients make waves with their businesses by building solid brands, sometimes we have to give ourselves credit for making a few waves. Four Fin was named one of the Top Branding Agencies In California of 2021 by Design Rush.

How’d we do it? By taking a nimble, no-nonsense approach to branding. Whether its participating in one of our three week Brand Sessions or our ongoing partnerships, our clients move forward instead of moving in circles. 

Are you making the waves or riding the waves?

FINterview Series: Zenia Birdie

Zenia Birdie, Account Manager at Four Fin Creative

A little intro about Zenia

What’s your favorite food?
French fries! Yes, I have a preference for which kind/shape but it depends on where I’m eating!

What did you want to be growing up?
I’m told I wanted to be a school bus driver when I was three years old so that I could go to school with my older sister (seemed like the place to be)! Then a teacher when I was in elementary school which I later realized was code for wanting to help people grow. Lately, I’ve started to think more about what type of person I want to be rather than what I want to be (because when are any of us really done growing up). To which my answer is thoughtful & empathetic, self-aware & authentic and grateful.

Favorite thing about Four Fin?
Being a contributor to one of the most equitable, unique and healthy agency cultures with transparency at its core. And it’s not just thrown around as a buzzword. We naturally live it every day with each other, our clients and partners.

What is the most uncomfortable thing you have done?
I moved to Rome, Italy for a semester in college without knowing even one person. Within six hours of landing, I knew it was the best decision of my life and couldn’t believe I almost missed it because I was afraid. Little did I know that I’d also end up meeting my future husband there who was on the same program!

FINterview Series: Shannon Trimble

Meet Shannon, our newest Fin and stellar designer. When she’s not slaying for clients, she’s probably slaying a workout. 

What did you want to be growing up?
I dreamed of becoming a gold medal-winning Olympic figure skater. I wanted to be famous! Which is odd to me now, I am an extreme introvert.

Favorite thing about Four Fin?
So many things, but the transparency we have with each other and our clients. It’s refreshing to work for a company that is completely authentic!

What’s your favorite food?
My favorite food would have to be a huge, massive salad with all the toppings and fixins (not the healthy kind).

You’re a new Pantone color, what are you called?
Mysterious Mist, bright and light, but with a little bit of edge!

Brace Yourselves, the Fins Have Rebranded

You may have noticed if you’re a Fin fan, that recently, we have been slowly rolling out our new brand across our marketing channels.

A branding firm doing a rebrand? So meta.

I get it, but this is big to us. It signifies a new era for Four Fin that’s hard to put into words, but I will sure try.

Started as a designer, now we here

8 years ago, when I started Jen Derks Design, there was a lot I didn’t know about growing a company, let alone a branding firm with four badass employees and an inspiring nationwide client roster. But that was okay. I was a good designer, wanting to do good work for good people, and raise some good kids with my good husband. Check. Check. And check mate.

Fast forward to today. Four Fin is a team of five with a list of well vetted partners, dialed-in business systems and tools, and a successful 2-week branding service called Brand Camp. We have a transparent office culture we’re proud of, health benefits, retirement, clients who are crushing it, an official @pandr office mural, and most important of all, a beer and La Croix fridge. I mean, we’ve officially ‘arrived’ with that last one.

We’ve also seen the impact of our work: Solopreneurs gaining confidence and momentum in their early days; small companies of 2-5 growing to exceed multi-million dollar revenues; and most recently, a start-up client announcing a $125 million dollar exit.

Shoes too small

Because of all of this growth, over the last year or so, we started to feel our Four Fin brand no longer represented us. 

We didn’t want to send visitors to our website anymore because “it didn’t feel like us.” We couldn’t quickly explain who we were and how we were different. We realized just how our clients feel when they come to us for help (talk about great UX research). It was clear, we were holding ourselves back by not doing what we do for others, investing in the brand.

Evolution, not revolution

So, who was Four Fin? Cue the strategy/therapy sessions. We realized that what matters most to us has always been there but we just had never put it into clear words. It isn’t learning new marketing tricks, competing for likes, or designing things that look cool for cool’s sake. The reason we love what we do lies in this purpose:
Connecting genuinely with others to help them see differently and live out the best, most contagious version of their story.
This is what we do every day at Four Fin with our clients, and with each other. We also know that we want to do this in our own way—as partners, above the weeds, fast and fun, thoughtful and honest.

The new Four Fin

With this clarity, and other strategy pillars defined, we were able to craft a new brand that speaks more true to who we are and how we work. The personality on our website matches the personality you’ll meet on that first phone call, or tenth meeting, because the whole team is clear on what it means to be a Fin. Our brand personality is defined as:

Direct   Confident   Informed  meets  Casual   Upbeat   Collaborative

A slab-serif typeface and deeper hue of Four Fin blue give the brand a casual,  confident and direct tone: Clear is kind. BS has no place here.

The logo for the name Four Fin was carefully crafted to make sure the letterforms were arranged in a fun, upbeat way, as if they were enjoying their successful collaboration.

A secondary mark was created for a more casual representation of the brand that nods to our surf-inspired name. We all thought turning a ‘Four’ into a surfboard for the ‘fin’ to catch a ride on was very clever. Killed it Kendall!

Alongside new marks, fonts, colors, images and visual language was a new upbeat and informed tone of voicelike a trusted friend who drops truth bombs in your best interest and has no problem poking fun at themselves. You’ll see it in our copy, and on the phone with us when you call to say hi. We think you’ll enjoy getting to know us.

Onward

Take a look around our new website and get to know the new Four Fin. An updated newsletter will hit in a couple of weeks so sign up to see it, and our social channels are always poppin’ with good conversations—don’t be shy out there!

Meanwhile, we’ll be over here—enjoying every branding project, every human interaction, and every gift this work provides as we head into the next 8 years of branding companies with passion.

Thanks for riding along with us to learn about this moment in Four Fin’s evolution. We wouldn’t be here without you. 

Hiring Alert: Art Director

Four Fin Creative is a boutique design and branding firm located in La Mesa, CA, and we’re looking for our Fourth Fin. Are you a humble and positive graphic design rockstar who loves your craft and thinks about brands all day? Maybe you’d love to run your own studio, but hate finding clients? Do you enjoy challenging yourself? Do you enjoy people? Do you enjoy tacos?

We’re looking for you.

As part of a small team, you should be a self-starter, comfortable wearing many hats, taking initiative and collaborating. Do what you love in a fun and casual environment with flexibility. At Four Fin, you’ll have the opportunity to make a direct impact on our growth as a firm, and on the growth of the brands we work with. This position offers leadership potential for the right self-starter who grows with us.

Job duties may include:

– Taking a project all the way from concept development to final execution of print and web designs
– Adhering to brand guidelines and brand consistency, while keeping the creative fresh
– Working with the Creative Director to conceptualize and design brand-experiences across platforms, from email marketing and social content, to printed collateral and trade-show booths
– Sourcing and directing outside vendors as needed, from photographers and printers, to illustration artists and copywriters
– Preparing artwork for final print production
– Writing brand guidelines and designing brand books or culture books
– Professional design execution of corporate communication pieces such as brochures, pitch-decks or sales sheets
– Mentoring and guiding other designers

If you are the Fin we’re looking for: 

– You have a minimum of 5 years of agency or similar experience
– You work in Adobe Creative Suite on a Mac environment
– You love nurturing a brand through all touch-points
– You always love to try something new and do not hesitate to dive in
– You explore other artistic disciplines because it lights you up
– You are a great communicator, quick to grasp new concepts and platforms
– You pride yourself on your ability to “get” your client’s vision
– You conceptualize in the big picture world / and execute meticulously on the details
– You have done your fair share of production work: cleaning up files, prepping files for printing and publishing, etc… and you don’t loathe it
– You are comfortable working with clients as well as under a Creative Director
– Collaboration is your jam. You love spinning rough ideas off of others and, in turn, you give feedback honestly and often

What could additionally set you apart?

– Video or photography chops
– WordPress experience
– Experience in copywriting
– Experience in assisting with brand strategy exercises
– Experience in environmental or packaging design
– Illustration and or hand lettering skills
– A medal in an extreme sports competition (kidding, not kidding)

About Four Fin Creative

Four Fin Creative is a small but fierce design and branding firm, located in up-and-coming La Mesa, where the parking is easy, and it’s (almost) always sunny. We work with a range of smart and ambitious companies, from start-ups to established corporations and organizations. Four Fin helps our clients understand and beautifully communicate their brands, product benefits, services and missions in a way that is efficient, beautiful and compelling. We focus on brand identity design, and how to carry that brand through a number of touch points and platforms.

At Four Fin, our tight-knit team values a sweet balance of getting shit done, celebrating successes, and supporting each other in the process. We offer health-care and generous paid vacation and sick leave, with additional non-paid leave on approval – because we want you to explore life, and keep growing as an individual, in and out of the office.

Looking for full time, but would consider temporary part-time, moving to full. Work should primarily take place at our La Mesa place of business with occasional remote work as life demands it.

To Apply

Send us an email at jobs@fourfincreative.com and tell us in the body of the email:
1) Why you are a good fit for this position
2) Why is this position a good fit for you
3) Your favorite brand and why

Please include a link to your online portfolio and attach your résumé as a PDF.