Is Fresh Folk Free to Use? License and Commercial Use Explained

Updated

Fresh Folk is free or donation-based for personal or non-commercial use, and it's released under the CC Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International License. That means you can use it without paying, but the license requires attribution, prohibits commercial use, and does not allow derivatives. If you need it for a commercial project or want to modify the illustrations, the stated license doesn't cover that — you'd need to contact the creator.

What Fresh Folk actually is

Fresh Folk is an illustration library of people and objects, created by Leni Kauffman. The site describes two main ways to use it:

  • Mix and Match — each character comes with a range of poses, outfits, and skin tones.
  • Make a Scene — build scenes from a set of 43 objects.

The library is aimed at assembling characters and objects into custom illustrations rather than downloading fixed, finished artwork.

What the license allows

The site states the work is offered "Free or donation for personal or non-commercial use" under the CC Attribution Non-Commercial No-Derivatives 4.0 International License. Breaking that down:

License element What it means for you
Attribution (BY) You must credit the creator, Leni Kauffman / Fresh Folk
Non-Commercial (NC) You may not use it in commercial projects
No-Derivatives (ND) You may not distribute modified versions

The "free or donation" wording means cost isn't the barrier — the license terms are. You can use it at no charge, and donating is optional rather than required.

Can you use Fresh Folk commercially?

Not under the stated license. The Non-Commercial term rules out commercial use, and the No-Derivatives term rules out remixing or redistributing altered versions. If your project is commercial, or you need to modify the illustrations, the license as described doesn't grant that permission.

The site does offer a path for custom needs: it invites you to reach out to commission something specific. That's the route to take if your use falls outside the personal/non-commercial scope.

Practical checklist before you use it

  1. Confirm your use is personal or non-commercial. If it's for a client, a product, or anything revenue-generating, the license doesn't cover it.
  2. Plan your attribution. Credit Leni Kauffman / Fresh Folk wherever the work appears.
  3. Don't redistribute modified versions. No-Derivatives means you can't publish altered copies.
  4. Need commercial rights or custom work? Use the site's contact option to ask about commissioning.

The bottom line

Fresh Folk is free to use for personal and non-commercial projects, with attribution required and no derivatives or commercial use permitted under its CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license. For anything commercial or modified, the license doesn't apply — contact the creator to discuss options.