JP’s Quest for a Bachelor of Arts Degree

Hi Everyone,

For those of you that know me no introduction is needed, but for those that have stumbled across this request for help my name is Jon-Paul Barr. I am 45 this year and I am a graphic designer. Over the years I have donated time, design work, items I have designed to many great events and causes without a second thought and it is something I will still do wherever I am able to.

Not once did I ever think that I would need to be on the receiving end, but thanks to the global COVID-19 pandemic that is where I find myself.

The Background

I have been a graphic designer for more years than I would like to remember and I love what I do. My business was doing well and I had enough work to take me through most of the year and then one morning I woke up to one of these jobs being canceled.

Most of my design work for the past 7 years has been for events from all over the world and I always thought I would have work from at least one country. Thanks to the virus situation I was proved wrong. One by one my jobs were canceled as more and more events were canceled or posponed till next year. Yes, you guessed it, I had become a Caronavirus statistic!

The Story

With no work coming in and no work left to do I started to think about the coming months. The not knowing when things will pick up again has caused more than a few sleepless nights so I began my search for some way to earn a wage.

With this in mind I was not going to be beat and I decided to update my CV. I had completed 4 years of Graphics and Media Design back in the early 90's .The diploma I should have was the equivalent of a foundation course and the first year of a BA (Bachelor of Arts). Turns out I never collected my diploma, no problem I can get it re-issued. I found out that the Techncal College I went to had a fire and records were destroyed and no copies were kept offsite or digital for my years at the college.

I am now in a position where I have to revisit the idea of going back to school in order to aquire a physical diploma. I was initially concerned that I would have to start from scratch, which for an experienced professional designer is soul destroying.

Luckily, after a long conversation with someone from the Interactive Design Institute/University of Hertfordshire I discovered that with my previous study and the fact I have been a full time designer for over 7 years, I can get my BA (HONS) Graphic Design in just 16 months instead of 4 years at a cost of €6000 instead of nearly €20.000.

I have decided not to waste this time of inactivity and instead to further my education that will allow me to bounce back much quicker after this crisis is over.

The Appeal

I never ask for something without offering something back. In return for your generosity and help I will give you a gift for certain donation levels as a thank you for helping me through:

€5 or more: I will send you a custom sticker I have designed for this campaign. This will be a professionally produced, high quality vinyl sticker.

€10 or more: I will send you custom wood coin I have designed for this campaign. This will be a laser engraved beach wood disc. It will be a none trackable wood coin (also known as a woody /CWG)

€25 or more: I will send you a random metal souvenir coin that I have previously designed. It will be full size and at least 35mm diameter.

€50 or more: I will send you a limited and numbered print exclusive to this fundraiser.

€100 or more: I will send you a limited and numbered hand drawn design exclusive to this fundraiser.

€200 or more: I will design a Custom Logo to your specifications, it can be for your company, an event or simply something for yourself.

€300 or more: I will design Custom, production ready blueprints for a metal coin or keyring. This is a design package that includes finished artwork and production blueprints, but does not include item production costs.

€1500 or more: A full event design package. Package example: Main event logo - Fundraiser coin - Banners and flags - Social media banners - Lanyard - Stickers - Main event coin - Supporters coin - Volunteers coin - Event name tag - T-shirt - Wood coin - This is a full design package that includes finished artwork and production blueprints, where necessary, but does not include item production costs