Donald Robertson (artist) facts for kids

Donald Robertson, born on March 7, 1962, is a super creative artist. He's also a "creative director" for a big company called Esteé Lauder. This means he helps come up with cool new ideas for their beauty products!

Donald Robertson's Career

How His Art Journey Started

In the 1980s, Donald Robertson went to the Ontario College of Art and Design. But he didn't finish his studies there. He was actually asked to leave because he didn't draw things exactly as they looked. He preferred to draw people "longer and skinnier" than they really were!

In 1984, a makeup brand called MAC Cosmetics started. Donald helped with their creative ideas. Later, in 1991, he moved to New York City. There, he worked at Hearst Communications, where he helped launch Marie Claire magazine in 1993.

He also helped redesign Cosmopolitan magazine. After that, he worked at Condé Nast on magazines like Glamour. When Esteé Lauder bought MAC Cosmetics in 1998, Donald kept working with MAC. He helped create the MAC Viva Glam makeup line in 1994. All the money from this line goes to help people with AIDS.

Since 2007, Donald Robertson has been a creative director at Esteé Lauder Companies. He has also worked on projects for other brands like Smashbox and Bobbi Brown. In 2014, he was an artist-in-residency at Eric Firestone Gallery. In 2016, he worked with Amber Rose to start a new makeup brand called Flirt Cosmetics.

Working with Other Brands

Donald Robertson loves to team up with different groups and companies.

• In 2014, he worked with the ASPCA. He designed products that helped raise money for animals in need.
• In 2015, he helped the ASPCA again with their "Save the Bees" campaign. He designed T-shirts that raised money for a UK group called Buglife.
• In 2016, he teamed up with Bloomingdales. He designed a special sweater, and some of the money from sales went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Donald also worked with fashion brands:

• In 2014, he partnered with J. Crew to create cool graphic T-shirts.
• That same year, he worked with fashion designer Giles Deacon. He designed a flamingo picture for Giles's 2015 collection. He also designed a special lip picture for Giles's 2014 collection.
• He even collaborated at an art event at a famous French shop called Colette.

In 2015, Donald worked with a New York shop called STORY. He showed his art there, and many products featured his designs. These included items from Canada Goose, Warby Parker, and S'well Bottle. In 2016, he launched a clothing collection with Junk Food Clothing Co. It included T-shirts for women, men, and even children's clothes.

Becoming an Author

Donald Robertson has also written books!

• In August 2015, he released his first children's book, Mitford at the Fashion Zoo. It's about a giraffe named Mitford who has adventures at COVER magazine in New York City. Donald calls the fashion world a "zoo."
• He wrote a second book called Mitford at the Hollywood Zoo. This book follows Mitford's experiences at the "Academy Zoowards."

In September 2017, he published Donald: The Book with Assouline Publishing. This book shows many of his amazing art pieces.

Awards and Recognition

Donald Robertson often shares his art online. His art sometimes shows funny or playful scenes from the fashion world. In 2014, he was recognized by the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America). He was even nominated for "Instagrammer of the Year" because of his popular art posts!

About Donald's Life

Donald Robertson is married to Kim Gieske, who is an interior designer. They have five children together! In 2020, their family moved to Dallas, Texas.