What can be more fateful than a man named Deskey creating fabulous office furniture? We can’t think of much. When we came across Donald Deskey’s furniture designs (which include more than just desks) we not only enjoyed the clever coincidence of his name, but also his fabulous pieces that span several different styles.
Curvy, bold, vivacious and made of luxurious materials, Deskey’s furniture pieces are highly recognizable. His pieces are very masculine, with heavy bodies and sturdy designs. Much of his pieces feature warm but dark colors like dark wood tones, lacquered blacks, and grays. He experimented a lot with exotic woods like burled walnut and other burled woods with gorgeous grain patterns. He worked primarily in the Art Deco style of design, but also featured modernist details.
Just a sampling of Deskey’s furniture design portfolio will include desks, dressers, chests, mirrors, stools, tables, chairs and lamps but also an interesting array of home accessories that you don’t always see considered and designed by other designers, like andirons, fireplace tools, smoke stands and desk dividers.
Born in Minnesota in 1894, Deskey first studied architecture at the University of California but did not enter into the architecture field. He instead became an artist and industrial designer, where he ended up pioneering many ideas and designs. After a visit to Paris in 1925, he established a design consulting firm in New York City and later a design firm with Phillip Vollmer called Deskey-Vollmer.
Curvy, bold, vivacious and made of luxurious materials, Deskey’s furniture pieces are highly recognizable. His pieces are very masculine, with heavy bodies and sturdy designs. Much of his pieces feature warm but dark colors like dark wood tones, lacquered blacks, and grays. He experimented a lot with exotic woods like burled walnut and other burled woods with gorgeous grain patterns. He worked primarily in the Art Deco style of design, but also featured modernist details.
Just a sampling of Deskey’s furniture design portfolio will include desks, dressers, chests, mirrors, stools, tables, chairs and lamps but also an interesting array of home accessories that you don’t always see considered and designed by other designers, like andirons, fireplace tools, smoke stands and desk dividers.
Born in Minnesota in 1894, Deskey first studied architecture at the University of California but did not enter into the architecture field. He instead became an artist and industrial designer, where he ended up pioneering many ideas and designs. After a visit to Paris in 1925, he established a design consulting firm in New York City and later a design firm with Phillip Vollmer called Deskey-Vollmer.
In 1926 he gained some notoriety as a designer for designing the window displays for the Franklin Simon Department Store in New York City, and in 1930 he was designing interiors for the Radio City Music Hall. Not content after mastering the fields of art, industrial design, furniture design or interior design, he started a graphic design firm in the 1940s which when on to pioneer some of the most famous logos of that time, like Crest toothpaste packaging and the Tide bulls eye. 
