“What if they’ve just made a huge mistake and I’m not actually supposed to be here at all?” This question was the chorus of my first (and second and third) year of University. I never truly felt like I deserved to be there. It must have been a mistake, a prank, a sympathy admission. I thought I’d gotten over it by the time I left, but the same little self-doubting voice came back when I started my job in London. These feelings haven’t just been exclusive to my ‘career’ achievements either, I’ve felt it in relationships too.

These feelings fall under the umbrella term of Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome was coined by the psychologists Dr. Pauline Clance and Dr. Suzanne Imes, after Dr. Clance identified the same self-doubting feelings of being a fraud in her students as she had seen in herself as a student. It is particularly common among women and seems to have reached its self-doubty fingers into the very highest positions. According to this, really great, piece on Man Repeller about Imposter Syndrome Albert Einstein, Sheryl Sandberg and a number of US Presidents have all suffered from it.

That’s why imposter syndrome is the next of the demons I’m going to attempt to ask to politely fuck off. I designed this poster to remind me of my achievements in regards to places where I feel like an imposter. This hasn’t completely eradicated the feeling, and I’m not sure anything ever will, but it has helped to consider all of the things I have done before and in my job, that weren’t just luck. By making a slightly unnecessary certificate for myself I’m also trying to get over the idea that any praise is false and that I don’t deserve it.

If you’re not sure if you’re suffering from Imposter Syndrome, or if you need to justify to yourself that it’s real, this test allows you to place yourself on the Clance IP Scale. If it helps my score was 89, I’m an Oxford Grad now working in a competitive communications grad scheme while freelancing as a designer.

Download the certificate in gold and grey here.

*I’m clearly not a psychologist or a therapist, so yeah, just bear that in mind – this is just me trying to tell my own demons to politely fuck off.

Happy Galentine’s Eve!

I love Parks and Rec. I’ve loved it from the moment I first binged it to every time I’ve come back when nothing else has quite compared.

I’d say I’m 90% Lesley (10% April) an assessment that has scientifically been verified by several Buzzfeed quizzes. So, it should come as no surprise that I think that Galentine’s day should be an official national holiday. I say this even though I’m admittedly a little light on the lady friend front currently (hit me up gals). I mean what could be better than a holiday where ladies celebrate and support ladies over waffles?

Even though it has still yet to be officially recognised I wanted to share some ideas, and a couple of cards, to help inspire great Galentine’s celebrations (not one of them involves buying a gift):

1. Embrace the traditional spirit of Galentine’s and take your ladies out for brunch. It can be hard to put the effort in and actually get everyone together, so managing to have something as simple and tasty as brunch can feel like a special occasion – especially if there are mimosas involved. Top brunch spots in London include: Palm Vaults (everything pink and wonderful), Farm Girl (good for anyone with a restricted diet, but not boring at all!), Foxcroft and Ginger (damn tasty), Bronte (if you’re feeling a bit posh).

2. Print out this postcard and send it to a lady you love. There’s something special about a handwritten card, they’re a bit more personal. In a time when almost all of the post we receive is bills or ASOS orders bound to be returned, getting a handwritten card from someone we love is a real occasion. So, why not brighten your galentine’s day and send her a postcard. I’ve done a lot of the heavy lifting, all you have to do is: print them off, write your message, put a stamp on it and drop it in one of those big red boxes. (I went a postcard because they’re not as intimating as writing a full card, they’re a bit more fun, and they’re cheaper to send internationally.) You can print yours here!

3. Call your mother. When you bring up the idea of Galentine’s day most people think of going out with their female friends. But let us not forget the ultimate gals who were there for us before we could even day the word gals who looked after us when we were sick or grumpily throwing tantrums in supermarkets, who had our backs even when we made the most questionable of pre-teen fashion choices. Taking the time to have a proper conversation with your mum, not just a text or a cursory email, but a proper conversation where you really listen to how they are, and let them know how much you appreciate them, can mean more than you realise. While you’re calling your mother, why not reach out to all of those female relatives who you don’t speak to enough. I know I for one don’t call my grandma enough either.

4. Pledge to Knopify your friendship for a year, and follow through. Just like puppies aren’t just for Christmas, friends aren’t just for Galentine’s day. Use this contract to pledge to be the best friend you can be for the year ahead, and come back and review it next year. Don’t just sign it and put it in a draw, stick to it. Tell your friends you love them more. Carve out the time to see them, to call them, to write to them. Email them that stupid article that made you think of them. Send them cookies if they’re having a bad day. Make binders about your friendship. Be as fierce as Leslie Knope is about her female friends. Take the first step now, and print your copy of the contract.

5. Celebrate and support your gals across the globe by donating to a women’s charity. There are so many women’s charities out there that are in need of funding that it’s impossible to list them all or pick out the most important ones here, but The Life You Can Save has a useful list, The Women’s Resource Centre is a network of women’s charities across the UK, Woman Kind supports the rights of women and girls across the world as do Women for Women International. There are so many more so you can easily find a charity that supports something close to your heart.

Who are going to be your galentines this year? What are you doing to celebrate?

Following the advice of the ever wise Emily McDowell I’ve recently been trying to hone down the essence of what I want this blog to be in order to give it more direction and to help me come up with better ideas. Part of this process she suggests using involves coming up with three words that define your brand, for me the words I wanted to define this blog, and all of my work, are: simple, honest and designed for good.

With these three words in mind the one idea that kept coming to me was making something to tell my demons to politely fuck off. I struggle with a lot of anxiety and bouts of depression, and it seemed only natural to me that the best way to be honest and to try and do some good was to choose to do the work over what was easy on the things that actually bother me in the hope it might help someone else. So, that’s what I’ve done.

The first demon I’m going to try and tackle is negative-self talk. It’s something I do a lot. It’s something everyone does at some point. It’s something that has affected my creativity, my productivity, and happiness.

Even though I know that it’s something that’s often irrational or just plain mean, I keep doing it. It’s not an easy habit to quit, and you can’t just replace the negative phrases with positive ones because that sometimes actually leaves you feeling worse.

So, what I’ve designed is a little decision diagram to help work through the negative-self talk, to break it down. I always enjoy doing these in magazines, and I thought it would be nice to replace negative self-talk with something I enjoy and that helps slow down my thinking and rationalise what I’m thinking. I’ve actually been using this, and it feels a bit silly at first, especially if I pull it out for the tiniest negative comment, but it has actually worked to stop myself falling into a negative spiral. That is in part just down to the fact that I’ve sat down and recognised that what I’m doing isn’t good for me, and actively doing something about it.

The next time you start talking to yourself negatively have a go at just working through this diagram and see how you feel after*.

If you want to print and keep the decision diagram, there’s a pdf here.

*I’m clearly not a psychologist or a therapist, so yeah, just bear that in mind – this is just me trying to tell my own demons to politely fuck off.

If you’ve had the misfortune of having a long conversation with me in the last year, you will almost undoubtedly have heard me talk about the new pound coin, which is why I can’t believe I haven’t written a post about it until now. It’s a small design change that is going to affect the day-to-day lives of everyone in Britain, how can we not be talking about it? I wanted to spread the word because I was kind of shocked at how many people didn’t know when the new fiver was being released last year, and the number of funny, but worrying, counterfeiting pranks that opened the flood gates to. I’m thinking of scenarios like the on played out on Hamish and Andy’s radio show when they were able to spend $20 notes because no one was aware of the change over in currency.

The new pound coin is released on 28^th March 2017 and will have completely phased out the old round pound by October of this year. The first thing to say about the new pound, if you didn’t know already, is that it has 12 sides. This “new” shape is said to be reminiscent of the old threepenny bit, for those who can remember that far back. It’s also thinner, lighter, and a little bigger than the current pound. Most importantly, it’s a whole lot more secure. Approximately 1 in 30 of the pound coins in circulation currently is a counterfeit – if you want to learn how to spot a counterfeit in the last few months of the old pound coin, the Royal Mint has lots of information about it. The new coin features a latent image panel, micro lettering around the rim, a bimetallic composition (like the £2 coin), milled edges as well as other security features.

Jody Clark, the Royal Mint designer, produced what is now the fifth coinage portrait of the Queen that features on the front of the coin. The tails side of the coin features the four heraldic beasts – the rose, the leek, the thistle and the clover – to represent each of the four nations of the UK and was designed by 15-year-old David Pearce, who won a public design competition. Despite its brand-new shape, its design makes it feel like a truly classic coin. The new shape and milled edges also make it easier to identify by the visually impaired (and those too lazy to look in their wallets) meaning it’s also a more user friendly coin.

Despite only being just over 30 years old the pound coin has become something of a national talisman, held up as a symbol of Great Britain in a variety of debates. Every pound coin has featured a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, so it has also become a symbol of her reign to a certain extent too. I think one of my favourite features of the round pound is the phrase just over half of the 44 different designs are inscribed with: DECUS ET TUTAMEN, which means ‘an ornament and a safeguard’. The phrase was originally written across silver coins to deter clipping, literally serving as an ornament as a safeguard. It performs a similar role on today’s pound coins, with one of the key signs of a counterfeit coin is the poor inscription of the Latin around the edge. I’m going to be quite sad not to see it written on the new pound coins, but I guess it’s just a marker of the advances of counter-counterfeiting technology.

The new design of the pound coin led to a lot of other updates outside of its own faces. Until you think about it, it’s easy to forget how many things a pound coin goes into, self-checkout machines, supermarket trolleys to name but two. Most of these systems should be updated by March. The importance of this was one of the big points of the speech I gave to unsuspecting friends and family. The important bank and payment systems are being updated mainly through software upgrades, and many, if not all, trolleys are being refitted, so there should be nothing to worry about. But, if you run a business that uses pound coins, and you haven’t done so already, have a read of this.

So, what do you need to do? First, get excited about the new pound coin. Second, check down the sides of the sofa and dig out all of your old pound coins in the next 6 months or so and make sure you spend them – the period for cocirculation ends in October meaning any pound coins you want to spend should be spent before then. Third, read up about the Royal Mint and numismatics (the study of coins) – it is honestly fascinating!