CENTENARY

We were privileged to celebrate Ken's Mother's 100th birthday over the Anzac weekend.
Such a gift to have the wisdom of 100 years as part of your family. Lorna was born during the first rumblings of World War 1 and endured the Great Depression and World War 2.
She has a very different view about the motivations of the world and how to survive it sustainably.
She has always been a very modest and careful person who knows what it is like to live through hard times.
A kitchen drawer was always full of the ends of string, brown paper bags to be reused and other flotsam that we younger ones throw away without a thought.
Ken made his Mother a beautiful invitation to the party which included all her descendants and the amazing array of inventions and modern innovations during her life.
She loves the Ipad. Chatting daily with family and friends and keeps her mobile phone nearby in case of emergencies.
Emma asked her about life when she was little. Horses and carts to get around or in their case trains, trams and shanks pony (walking).
She felt that computers, cars and mobile technology had vastly changed society over a short span of time.
When she was young no one talked about cyber bullying, climate change and online dating. You met through Church groups, work and friends.
A gentler time.

Easter at Dinner Plain

Magic Design Workshop has a mountain office at Dinner Plain. Located 10 kilometers from Mount Hotham in the Victorian high country. It is an exquisite place.
Winter sees this village buzzing with activity as keen skiers and holiday makers enjoy life above the snow line. Snow play, beginner skiing and tobogganing are some of the activities on offer as visitors enjoy unique accommodation with easy access to the serious skiing opportunities at Mount Hotham.
Dinner Plain has something for everyone all year round. In spring and summer, the alpine bush is a continually changing kaleidoscope of wild flowers with sublime walking tracks around the village, to Mount Hotham and beyond. Walking out to Mount Feathertop is a profound experience as you look over the entire Victorian Alpine region that rolls in continuous vignettes of blue as far as the eye can see.
Autumn at Dinner Plain can be frosty, cool and mild as the bush plants finish their flowering cycle ready for winter. Cosy lodges, open fires and good company makes it an ideal destination for Easter. The town is brimming with families. Kids relishing the freedom to ride their bikes around the village unencumbered. We have seen tribes of kids some as young as 5 brushing the frost off their bike at 7am ready to do the circuit whilst Mum and Dad enjoy the peace of a really good coffee to start the day.
This Easter we walked along the fire trail at the back of the village taking the little paths that circle off in to the bush. Yasmin found an antler. A souvenir from one of the deer that live amongst the trees. We were intrigued by its texture. Very hard, smooth and cold to touch. Not like bone. Collections of mossy branches and the treasured antler have made their way to Melbourne as a special memento of Easter at Dinner Plain.

Portrait of the Artists cat

Neo the Magic Design Workshop cat has a lovely story.
In the exhausting heat of mid summer in regional Australia we kept seeing a black blur in the garden on dusk. Everyone saw it and wondered what it was.
After about 6 weeks we were having a barbeque one evening and the smell of the dinner cooking was too much for him. The most beautiful cat appeared out of the shadows and began rolling around on the paving. Neo had moved in.
We think he was dumped at Christmas probably by someone going away and thinking our place would make a good home.
He was immediately embraced and named after Neo of The Matrix fame because he would disappear and reappear in the strangest places like he was using a time warp. You would find him lounging somewhere comfortable and no one remembered letting him in.
We have had a series of design cats and dogs, who like nothing more than sitting on your seat in the studio or chewing the phone line when you are on an important call.
There had to be a line drawn about studio etiquette. Neo will come in and peruse the work being done. He rarely comments, stays for a while and then returns to the garden that he loves.

Magic Design Workshop introducing Matt Naldrett

Matt Naldrett is a brilliant designer, copy writer and conceptualist. He has been part of the fold at Magic Design Workshop for many years. With a background in Advertising, he is an expert in snow promotion and brings enthusiasm to every project he is involved in.

Introducing the Magic design family - Emma Luke/ Mecurialist

Emma Luke:

Is the daughter of Ken and Vicki Luke, also from a background in Industrial design Emma has a jewellery label called Mecurialist and also collaborates on 3D product and public art design projects with Magic Design Workshop.

Emma also runs a contemporary jewellery collective called Stone Glint and Bone, located in South Melbourne.

 

 stoneglintandbone.com

https://www.facebook.com/stoneglintandbone  

www.somespace.com.au/stone-glint-bone.php‎ 

stoneglintandbone.blogspot.com/‎ 

www.mecurialist.com.au
mecurialist.blogspot.com
boticca.com/mecurialist
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mecurialist/144481522255864

Introducing the magic design workshop family Thom Luke & Threshold Design

Thom Luke:

Thom Luke Son of Ken and Vicki is an Industrial designer  whilst collaborating on 3D projects with Magic Design Workshop he also runs Threshold  Design a multi-faceted design consultancy based in Fitzroy, Melbourne.

With a focus on Innovative, experimental and result driven projects, his strengths are derived from an ability to plan and design successful solutions before taking them to fruition.

Thom specializes in:

Product design, development and fabrication;
Retail design, fabrication and installation;
Event design and installation;
production design and logistics;

http://www.somespace.com.au

http://www.thresholdesign.com.au

Introducing the Magic Design Workshop family

Ken Luke:

Ken has worked as a graphic designer for over thirty years, from the era of commercial artists, airbrushing, letraset and Pantone markers when it really was Magic Design! to the world of Indesign, shiny macs and the digital now. working for a huge range of clients, including large international companies, government organizations and medical agencies right down to the smallest of businesses.

http://au.linkedin.com/pub/ken-luke/25/5a7/b4b
http://www.mdw.net.au

Introducing the Magic Design workshop family: Vicki Luke

Vicki Luke

Vicki Luke has been drawing and painting for as long as she can remember. From the child who always drew in the dirt, to a keen art student throughout school. Growing up in Albury, her enthusiasm for art developed into an active arts practice.

After leaving school Vicki moved to Sydney to develop her passion. A year at Sydney University with a teachers scholarship convinced her to acquire hands on skills, so she studied Graphic Design.
Working as a designer and illustrator in Sydney and then in the Albury region has kept Vicki constantly involved in the creative community. After independently working as a Graphic Designer for twenty years she returned to study to refresh her skills.

Fine Arts has been her primary activity since then. Known throughout the region for her work as an exhibiting artist, a TAFE teacher and a regular guest artist in community workshops.
Vicki Luke is a passionate collaborator who believes that everyone should enjoy their creative side.

http://au.linkedin.com/pub/vicki-luke/71/626/733
http://vickiluke.blogspot.com.au/

Welcome to the Workshop of Magic design

Magic Design Workshop is a muti functional design agency founded in 1984 by Ken and Vicki Luke, with a rich history in graphic design and branding the business is based between offices in Albury and the Victorian Alps, these days the firm has extended it's reach to also encompass product design, public art and web development projects.

- A sneak peak inside the fine art and jewellery studio, MDW also runs private art and design workshops at our Albury and Dinner plain premises.

http://www.mdw.net.au/