He studied architecture at the University of California, but did not follow that profession, becoming instead an artist and a pioneer in the field of Industrial design.

He attended the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, which influenced his approach to design.

Deskey first gained attention as a designer with his window displays for the Franklin Simon Department Store in Manhattan in 1926.

He also sold geometrically painted objects through the fashionable shop of Rena Rosenthal, and did custom design work for her.

[3] In the 1940s, he started the graphic design firm Donald Deskey Associates and made some of the most recognizable icons of the day, including the Crest toothpaste packaging, the Tide bullseye, as well as a widely used New York City lamppost model.