Hi everyone, I would like to ask if it’s wrong to use vector elements from Freepik for my designs.
For example, when I’m designing a Christmas banner, I might download a few pre-designed elements from Freepik to use.
Since I usually design in 2D, I tend to draw the easy elements myself. However, for 3D elements, I’m not very skilled, so I download pre-made vectors to save time.
Is it wrong to do this? 
Thanks, everyone.
It is not wrong in a design sense, just not very creative, but maybe wrong aka illegal in a legal sense.
You have to read and follow the license agreement for the specific license. There are at least two different licenses for different artwork I found there in the last 5 minutes. Free with attribution and Premium.
All of this assumes that the uploader hasn’t cheated the platform by uploading someone else’s work.
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I’m generally not allowed to use ‘Free’ stuff for projects and a lot of the time I need an agreed license, either from the stock site or the owner of the art/photo themselves.
If I do use free stuff or something that from my experience seems it should be quesitionable, I do a reverse image search to see what turns up.
The fun part about that is, every once in a while something surprising turns up. I’ve had original artists tell me they are in the process of DMCA action against free-stuff uploaders that stole their work. Or I’ve found that an image someone wants $400 for is actually either Public Domain or Creative Commons 0 (CC0) for which you don’t have to pay anything if you can find the original source.
Free stuff, you get what you pay for. Approach cautiously.
Beware of the varying use levels in Creative Commons.
With Royalty Free stock, use due diligence.
And even with Rights Managed stock, I tend to be skeptical.
And as Joe said, ALWAYS READ THE LICENSE.
Something might be free, until you want to make T-shirts or other trash and trinkets out of it…
Personal use is not Commercial use. Even though you are personally creating something, if you intend to sell it as design work or merchandise, that is Commercial use.
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No, there’s nothing wrong with using a Freepik asset as part of your design, provided it’s a free asset or you have a Freepik Premium subscription.
If you’re a free user, you must always add an attribution line (“Designed by Freepik”) and a link to Freepik.
You only can’t use Freepik assets as the main elements of merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, posters etc.).
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How to download the license with a Premium subscription:
https://support.freepik.com/s/article/How-to-download-Freepik-premium-licenses?language=en_US
BE SURE TO READ THAT PART THAT THE TXT FILE IS NOT THE LICENSE. IT’S THE INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DOWNLOAD THE LICENSE. You must keep the license with its associated image. Every time.
As for free use here is their blurb.
If you download our Free resources as a free or Essential user, remember that you need to credit the author by including the attribution line “Designed by Freepik”, in a clear and visible way, somewhere on the printed product or the digital image you create, and a link to www.freepik.com placed on the website where you use Freepik resource. This link can be added next to the resource or, if this is not possible, in the footer of the website.
You can read our article about attribution to learn more about it.
Freepik also offers Premium resources, which are available only to users with an active Premium or Premium+ subscription. To have access to these resources, a Premium or Premium+ subscription must be purchased.
Please note that around 1% of the content offered on Freepik comes from third parties. This means that you can see the preview image on our site, but when you hit the download button, you will be redirected to a third party site. In these particular cases, although these are not common, you should check their licenses to understand how to use the images and if attribution is required.
That attribute process could be a dealkiller with your clients, especially if the user name you have to use is something really dumb…“Credit: DogVomit, Designed by Freepik” yeah, I want “designed by” on anything I create, let alone a dumb user name. And a link in the footer of a website? Not.
Also note that part about 3rd party sites. You have to abide by the 3rd party license, NOT Freepik’s. Not only attribute applies. Payment often does too.
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And this. This is the REAL Dealkiller
https://support.freepik.com/s/article/Attribution-How-when-and-where?language=en_US
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I’m curious why you wonder if it might be “wrong.” Do you think there might be legal consequences? Do you wonder if there are ethical considerations?
As others have said, using legally obtained free or inexpensive clipart from a legitimate source is fine, but doing so often depends on the client. For example, if you’re designing a marketing campaign for a large company and they’re paying you a large fee, they probably won’t want free clip art used as part of the campaign. On the other hand, if you’re creating a social media poster for a small local business that doesn’t have much money to spend, that business will probably be delighted that you’ve saved them some money.
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You just have to be careful of the term “Personal Use.”
“Free” might be free for your personal website, or your personal scrapbook, but the minute you call yourself a designer and do work for other people for money, you are now a commercial enterprise, whether you like it or not.
Be aware.
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