At Our Living Design Studio (OLDS), the creative process unfolds with a belief that the design that reshapes the world begins within the folds of the earth itself. OLDS leverages the rhythms found in forests, tides, and moon cycles, strengthened by a philosophy that founder and director Aliko Weste weaves into every project: “Nature is the best designer.”
That idea has carried the studio from its early years as a one-person digital marketing venture into a purpose-driven, globally connected design company serving across industries. Today, OLDS empowers brands through a comprehensive digital experience, amplifying brand voice through the creation of logos, websites, graphic design, social media management, photography, system development, and other branding collateral.
Before OLDS existed, Weste sought a completely different path. “I wanted to be a college professor,” he recalls. “I wanted to teach linguistics and how language shapes our consciousness.” However, his professional direction shifted. Fascinated with meaning, narrative, and identity early on, he used those principles not to teach a class, but rather to craft his design ethos.
The business itself traveled through multiple evolutions: first Well N’ Green Digital Marketing in 2017, which became U Productions, weaving branding work with event production. Later, while seeking a more cohesive identity, Weste and Rachel Taylor, co-founder of OLDS, spent nine months reimagining what the next chapter would be. “We pondered over what ancient values people were trying to return to, and how we could move them forward in business,” Weste says.
The answer materialized into Our Living Design Studio, a branding and web design firm, shaped by Indigenous wisdom and kinship-based thinking. The company leads on the principle that business should mirror the ecosystems that sustain life. Weste believes that its core tenets reflect that: moving at the pace of nature, integrating self-care, trusting the process, leading with intuition, and making room for life. “The moment we tend to the center of our ecosystem, ourselves, everything around us becomes well,” Weste explains.
He rejects capital-driven speed for speed’s sake, describing a modern pressure that is eroding people’s innate systems and rhythms. “In the natural world, you don’t throw fertilizer on a plant to force it into something it’s not. You water it, you give it what it needs, and you let it become itself,” he states.
Weste emphasizes that diversity and inclusivity are important aspects of the company, led by women and people of the global majority. Weste sees this blend of identities and life experiences of the team as the engine behind the studio’s creative depth. Over the past two years, he emphasizes that the team has grown organically without forced scaling. “I haven’t pushed it to grow,” he admits. With an expansive brand portfolio, OLDS has designed a plethora of websites, developing immersive digital worlds for clients ranging from therapists and musicians to documentary films, financial firms, and corporate individuals.
According to Weste, every client undergoes the same universal blueprint, which encompasses emotional clarity, vision refinement, customer experience, competitor insight, and the deeper question of identity. “It takes a new version of you to hold the business you want,” he explains. “We are tending to the person, not just the business.”
After an intensive discovery process, OLDS begins crafting branding materials built for longevity. “We build for 2035,” Weste notes. “Your website is your first conversation with the world; we draw your personality through the digital space.” He emphasizes that the websites are designed as fully-formed worlds that encapsulate the client’s as well as the company’s personality, crafting bespoke digital architecture.
As OLDS sets its sights on larger corporate collaborations for the future, it remains committed to creating regenerative, nature-aligned design. Aliko Weste frames the company’s approach as part of a broader movement reshaping how business is done globally. In addition to corporate work, OLDS is expanding into other design spaces, including interior design, AI-driven design, and the creation of physical infrastructure that can support a more harmonious living with nature as technology continues to evolve. “Good design has built this world,” he says. “Great design will shape it. By collaborating with us, people will design a future worth inhabiting.”
