We recently connected with Destynie Ost and have shared our conversation below.

Destynie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you walk us through some of the key steps that allowed you move beyond an idea and actually launch?

I was at an art show, and received incredible feedback from people, I knew that I needed to promote my work, and start to take it seriously. That is when I got the inspiration for Ost Designs and knew this is something I really wanted to do. I started with the branding, and then got my licensing, and started to get better quality display equipment. From there it also came to the matter of social media, and really learning that to promote my work. Once this was figured out the company sort of fell into place.

Destynie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Ever since I was a kid I was always drawing. I always enjoyed playing around with color, and seeing what I could come up with mixing colors and forms. This continued on throughout high school, and that is when I decided I wanted to do something in the creative field with my life. Interior design was something I always loved because it involved color, form, and design. That is when I decided to go to college, and study in interior design.

I ended up going to an art school, where we took multiple art classes. I ended up meeting a teacher that really pushed our drawing and creativity boundaries and started to really get me intrigued in realism art. Something that I never really messed with before.

Over the next few years I worked for a design firm, and as a hobby on the side I practiced some painting, and charcoal drawings. I continued to practice until I started to really enjoy it and noticed my skill level improving. I started my instagram page, and started to share some of my pieces. I ended up having a traveling art show company reach out asking me to be apart of their show, along with 40 other artists. I was extremely nervous at this point but knew that this was something I was truly passionate about and need to put out there and get this going. This is when I created my design company Ost Designs, so that I could promote my work and take it to the next level.

My painting style I would say is very vibrant and bold. Most of my paintings are realism paintings with vibrant colors or involve space. One of my favorite pieces i’ve done is called “Galaxius” which is a portrait of a woman with bold hard lighting and vibrancy, and shes surrounded by space. The painting took me hours and pushed my skill, and really made me proud of myself.

Aside from painting and prints, I have done some art murals for companies including a donut shop and painted groovy designs on the outside of a few cannabis shops which was a lot of fun. It’s always enjoyable driving by them!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Social media definitely. I am still learning how to create powerful reels, and utilize Tik Tok. If I would have focused on promoting this more at the beginning my audience would definitely be at a larger scale.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

I have an amazing support system, aka my family, and have had supportive parents since day one. They were the ones who helped me be able to go to college, and helped with the equipment I needed to start doing art shows and making prints. My parents rock!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ostdesigns
• Facebook: Ost Designs
• Linkedin: Destynie Ost