We’re pledging to buy work from 100 freelance contributors as part of our efforts to help mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on the creative industry.

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for submissions has now passed. Read our update announcement for details about our final selections.

The world is not how we knew it, and we know current events have had some pretty dire consequences for those of you in the creative community. We see on social media that commissions are being cancelled and upcoming work is uncertain. In these unpredictable times, we want to do all we can to help our community and the wider creative community.

So with that in mind, today we have launched a new initiative: 100 Days. 100 Commissions.

This iniative is part of our pledge to spend the equivalent of our annual commissioning budget over the next three months. And the focus will be on using existing projects from creatives, rather than calling for them to create new work on spec.

Our Managing Director Ashley Hewson says: “The big principle is that we’re not asking people to put effort into creating new work to pitch according to a tight brief.

“We’re always looking for real-world projects that have been created in Affinity apps and we know many people would have been working on briefs that have just been cancelled. Alternatively they may have unused projects or even something just done for fun.

“That’s the sort of work we’re looking to license, so contributors don’t waste time and effort preparing new work to pitch (unless they really want to) and might even get paid for something that’s been cancelled by a client.”

Examples we are keen to see include, but are not limited to:

Print documents made in Affinity Publisher such as flyers, brochures, magazines, reports and book layouts

Illustrations, graphic and UI design projects made in Affinity Designer, including website or app layouts, icons, logos and packaging

Projects created in Affinity Photo such as portrait retouching, compositions, focus stacking, astrophotography, panoramas, HDR, fashion and product photography.

Applications must be submitted by 27th April and are restricted to one project per entrant, and any branding should be fictionalised before submission.

PLEASE NOTE: The deadline for submissions has now passed.Read our update announcement for details about our final selections.

This is one of three measures we unveiled last week aimed at helping photographers, designers, artists and other creatives affected by the global pandemic.

We are also allowing anyone to use Affinity apps on Mac or Windows PC for 90 days free of charge, with no obligation. There’s also a 50% discount for users who would rather buy and keep the apps, including iPad versions, for a one-off price with no subscription.

To download the free trial, go to the Affinity website.