Recently at The Print Bar we’ve been thrilled to produce some great new tote bags (with more merch on the horizon) for Suzanne Pilcher alongside the release of her first publication titled Paradise on Purpose. A true creative and founder of Locale co-working space on Yunbenun/Magnetic Island (with plenty more creative credits listed in our chat below). We asked Suzanne a few questions about the many different hats she wears and what inspired her to start it all. We wanted to thank Suzanne for sharing her time answering our questions for her and we can’t wait to see what she creates next!
Hi Suzanne! Tell us a bit about yourself, your background and your creative interests
Hello! My name is Suzanne, and I have worked as a Graphic Designer and Creative Director for most of my professional career over the last 11-ish years. After graduating from design school, I spent about 5 years living in Sydney, working in the creative departments of fashion companies until 2018 when, pretty unexpectedly, I was offered a part-time position as the Creative Director of my friends’ luxury villa rental company, which allowed me to travel the world shooting and designing for them. That was when my digital nomad chapter started, and I was first introduced to the concept of coworking spaces and the incredible communities of open-minded people that tend to grow within and around them. It was also when I started picking up freelance clients and learning how to operate as a studio.
Since the pandemic grounded me back in Australia, I experienced another series of unexpected events, which led me to open up my own little coworking space called Locale here on Yunbenun/Magnetic Island. It is part of a wider collective of small businesses called Jungle Club. Nowadays, I spend my time running my creative studio, Studio Solstice, operating the coworking space on weekdays, organising the occasional weekend workshop or event, and most recently, launching our new publication: Paradise On Purpose! (Oh, I also co-run a small pottery business called Next Of Kin that I started up with my potter Mom in 2016, which is important and worth mentioning, but I wasn’t sure where to fit it in above, haha)
You’ve created a coworking space on Yunbenun/Magnetic Island called Locale, how did that come about?
Towards the end of 2020, I was feeling isolated and lacking the creative community that I had been surrounded by on a daily basis when I was traveling full-time and working remotely. I was back in Townsville (where I grew up), and I craved that feeling of being part of a group of people who support, encourage, and uplift one another in their creative and business pursuits. The energy of those communities of people is so contagious, and I missed it so much. I’d also mostly been based on islands in Southeast Asia in the previous two years, and one day, while sitting at Alma Bay here on the island, I realized that it was easily one of the most beautiful beaches on the planet. It was just as good as all those ‘Top 10 Beaches In The World’ destinations I used to travel to for work, and it had been right here in Townsville, under my nose, my whole life. It was kind of crazy.
At the time, I wasn’t even sure where in Australia to plant myself. I bought a campervan in October 2020 and had a vague plan to travel around the country, attempting to find a community or place that was creative and connected to nature, where I could settle into and become a part of. But I guess life had other plans, because I randomly happened to meet Jesse, Scotty, and Frankie at the end of 2020. We all had similar dreams and interests, and looking back, it must have just been a case of being in the right place at the right time for all of us. We quickly formed a little team and started creating Jungle Club at the beginning of 2021, with Locale as the coworking arm of that collective!
We’ve recently created some tote bags for your new publication titled Paradise on Purpose, what inspired you to create this work?
I was on a road trip driving my bomby old campervan up the QLD coast back to the island in May 2022 in total daydream mode – I always tell people how much I love long journeys because it puts my brain in this state of daydream, which is when I have all my best ideas, and the idea just came to me out on the road. I’d actually just had a market stall in The Finders Keepers in Brisbane with my mum for our pottery brand, and those events are such incredible communities of creatives that are so curated and so intentional. I had been chatting to all these different people while we were there, hearing about their lives and telling them about how I lived on the island and that we had opened Locale and Jungle Club, which were also spaces created with the intention of bringing like-minded creatives and lovers of nature and adventure together.
I had this realization when I was driving, that there is this massive misconception that if you live on an island, you must just be tapped out from society and in kind of a passive, escapist mindset, which, in our community at least, is just so far from the truth. So, Paradise On Purpose is basically a concept that challenges that notion, that tells stories and champions the creative work and ideas of people who are living tuned in to their inner environments and their surroundings in a way that might seem counterintuitive to what has become the modern norm. It challenges this weird collective acceptance of the idea that you need to be in a city or surrounded by concrete and millions of other people to be doing anything that really matters.
Here on the island we have a community of people filled with passion for what they do, who also know how to make the space and time in their lives to watch the sunset everyday and know the seasons and the moon cycles and the animals, plants and marine life that are in tune with these rhythms. I think it’s really cool – so I made a magazine about it haha.
Locale is part of a larger community called Jungle Club, how do you all interact/assist/support each other living on the Island?
Both Locale and Jungle Club are always moving, changing, and evolving in so many different ways that it really feels like a living, breathing organism. In their interview for the magazine, Jesse and Scotty mentioned that being part of a very small community on Magnetic Island (with only 2.5 thousand local residents) and growing into our own mini community within that has been an incredible experience. We have received acceptance and support from the wider community, and it has been amazing to witness and be a part of. As small business owners, it’s also pretty great and quite rare to be surrounded by others who are walking a similar road. We can constantly bounce ideas off each other, seek advice or reassurance during tough times, and work together to keep moving forward—all of this over a casual morning coffee in paradise. It’s sort of magical.
What does the future look like for Locale? Do you have anything in particular you’re working on?
Honestly right now I’m just thrilled and proud that we successfully launched the magazine and we have now ventured into producing high-quality totes with you guys! We also have some exciting new merch on the horizon. As for the coworking space itself, I don’t think I’ll ever stop dreaming of ways to improve and just fill it up with heart and soul. Everything we do is with the intention of empowering possibility, creativity, community and the natural world, so I just want to keep leaning into that and hopefully bring to life those values in different ways for as long as I can, however that looks 🙂
You can find out more and purchase your copy of Paradise on Purpose (only a couple left!) at @locale_co and be sure to check out Suzanne’s creative studio @bystudiosolstice
