Acclimate Magazine

A colourful quarterly made by and for expatriate women living in Bangkok

It All Started at an Art Show

A chance meeting that turned into something much bigger

I was living in Bangkok at the time, and met Tracey Starr at an art exhibition for a mutual friend in 2008. Somewhere between mingling and musings on Bangkok life, she asked what I did. When I told her I was a graphic designer who worked on magazines, her eyes lit up. She had just been thinking about starting a publication — something honest, joyful, and real for expatriate women navigating life in Thailand.

That conversation sparked a collaboration that would grow into Acclimate Magazine — a quarterly publication that ran for two years, with nine issues in total. Tracey served as editor-in-chief, rallying a team of volunteers from the expat community. I helped her shape the brand and design direction from the ground up: concept, layout, typography, production, and everything in between.

A Magazine That Felt Like a Friend

Designing with honesty, warmth, and a sense of humour

The brief was simple: make it fun and useful. Tracey wanted to create something vibrant, with a wink — a publication that tackled serious issues with warmth and humour, and challenged the tired stereotypes about expat women in Bangkok.

From the start, she was clear: this wasn’t going to be another glossy lifestyle mag full of tired tropes. It needed to be colourful and real — something that could laugh at the quirks of expat life while holding space for the deeper stuff: identity, reinvention, and belonging.

We created a visual style that reflected that duality — bright and welcoming, yet grounded in authenticity. Together, we envisioned a magazine that felt approachable, engaging, and thoughtfully designed — packed with content that truly spoke to the experience of women living abroad. It had to feel polished without being corporate, uplifting while staying rooted in real-life challenges.

What I Brought to the Table

From layout to logistics — how I helped bring the vision to life

My role covered a lot of ground:

• I collaborated with Tracey on the magazine’s visual identity and design direction
• Designed the layout for each issue, balancing editorial structure with personality
• Coordinated with advertisers and sponsors to support production costs
• Oversaw printing and managed local distribution
• Built a simple website listing where to pick up copies
• Published the magazine under my company to handle business operations

Tracey took the lead on content, rallying a team of contributors from women’s clubs, community groups, and her own network. I handled the design and the behind-the-scenes mechanics that made it all possible.

What the Magazine Held

Stories, support, and a sense of connection

At its heart, Acclimate was about connection. It gave voice to women who often felt unseen — highly capable individuals who had paused careers and ambitions to follow their partners across the globe. It offered both practical advice and a platform for storytelling: where to get a decent haircut or a great massage, sure — but also how to rebuild a sense of self, purpose, and community.

Each issue was packed with thoughtful, useful, and occasionally hilarious content. From emergency preparedness guides and fashion for real bodies, through candid essays on identity loss, reinvention, and everything in between. Honest stories from women finding their way in Bangkok. Local love letters. Even a clever take on how to survive coffee mornings.

But Acclimate didn’t shy away from the harder stuff either. Behind the surface of privilege were stories of loneliness, infidelity, loss, illness, and women trying to navigate heartbreak or danger in a foreign country, far from familiar systems of support. The magazine didn’t pretend to solve these problems — but it acknowledged them. It made space. It let women know they weren’t alone.

Tracey’s editorials and content planning gave each issue its heart and humour, striking the perfect balance between warmth, wit, and wisdom.

A Lasting Impact

Stories, community, and design with purpose

Acclimate Magazine became a small but meaningful part of the Bangkok expat ecosystem — available at bookstores, cafés, clubs, and community hubs. It created space for honest conversations and creative expression, reminding women they weren’t alone in the beautiful mess of relocation.

I wasn’t a trailing spouse myself, but I grew up in a Third Culture family. I saw what it meant for my own mum to start over in a new country — to build a life from scratch, again and again. This project hit close to home.

The magazine combined everything I love about design — collaboration, community, and craft. It was a chance to give voice to stories that often go unheard, and to present them in a way that was both beautiful and useful. Acclimate wasn’t just a design job — it was a way to honour the resilience, humour, and strength of women living abroad. I’m proud to have played a part in creating it.

The magazine came to an end when Tracey’s husband’s job took them to Hong Kong, but its legacy still lingers — in printed pages passed between friends, in the stories that were told, and in the community it helped strengthen.

From Concept to Print: Tracey on Working Together

“Leelee has a gift for understanding a concept in my head and crafting it into a more beautiful design than I could have imagined. When Leelee and I met, I knew immediately that we’d make a great team.

Leelee helped me in the early planning stages of building Acclimate magazine, designed our media kit, and designed the look of the entire magazine. In addition to design, Leelee had also taken responsibility for the printing and distribution of Acclimate, which she managed competently and efficiently.

On top of all of her skills, she is fun and easy to work with, and her fees are fair and reasonable. I’m delighted we found each other, and have recommended her many times to friends and colleagues.”

— Tracey Starr, Editor, Acclimate