The beginning of the Russian aggression on 24-th of February 2022 was the end of the world as we know it for many people. Thousands lost a parent, a child or a friend. Millions were forced to relocate losing their job when fleeing to another country.

01

The Need

I, though Bulgarian myself, was not indifferent to Ukraine before 2022. After the Maidan protests and the events afterwards, I started to be interested in Ukrainian culture, history, music, and cinema. I started taking Ukrainian lessons and visiting the country.

Then, in 2022, I was shocked to see how the place that brought me so much joy and happiness through the years was being destroyed.

02

The Initiative

Kyiv 2017, personal photo

03

The Insight

ELshad and Olga, photo: Call a Colleague webstie

And this is how I came up with the idea for the Freelance for Ukraine platform. It aims to inform brands, ad agencies and clients around the world that they can help Ukrainians in their expert field. By giving them an assignment.

Because many of those designers are highly proficient and skilful. And once your life is turned upside down, work can be one of the not so many things that take you back to your old everyday life.

04

The Platform

In April 2022 I saw an Instagram ad about the Call a Colleague platform, developed by people called Elshad from Kharkiv, Ukraine and Olga from Sochi, Russia. Their site provided a connection between relocated Ukrainians with their professional counterparts from Europe. I've booked over 15 calls with designers. Every one of them had a different personal story, but the same professional difficulty when comes to work.

They couldn't find a project to continue their expertise.

04 / Hero Section

The platform is a website that presents the main idea and goal. It consists of 6 sections that give information about the project, the designers, their work with Freelance for Ukraine and a contact form.

04 / About Section

The first section after scrolling down tell about the situation that many professionals are forced to be. It gives more light on the projects itself and why it is needed.

How a brand can help itself and the community of designers and specialists.

04 / Partners Section

This screen shows which companies support the effort to help Ukrainian designers in need.

04 / Designers Section

The designer section shows the artists that are currently available for work. Their name, a story of themselves and a link to their portfolio that opens on a pop-up window.

Currently, 7 designers confirmed their willingness to participate, but I assume that in a short time there would be a lot more on the list.

04 / Showcases Section

When a company, agency or small business completes a project with Freelance for Ukraine, they will be asked if want to upload the project on the website.

04 / Hire Section

This is the contact form section where an application or a question could be submitted.

The platform would be connecting brands that are willing to help with people who can use their help. By doing what artists do best.

By having such an initiative, I aim at building a partnership and international community which relies on skills, trust and understanding.

05

The Help

In the short future, I am planning the F4UA to be fully developed for a multi-specialist platform. This means to includes illustrators, developers, 3D artists and other people to whom work from distance is not an obstacle to their work brilliantly.

06

The Opportunity

Thank you!

For scrolling to this end.
I hope we would share this enthusiasm for helping out Ukrainians in this troubled time.