GF Smith: Bringing the inside, out

We were drawn to GF Smith’s internal culture, their ‘gently radical’ spirit, and their commitment to environmental and social causes – soon to be formalised with the launch of the GF Smith Charitable Trust.

Context 

GF Smith undertook their last major branding project in 2014. Since then, the business, creative sector and wider world have changed significantly. GF Smith needed a rebrand to both reflect these shifts and take them into the future.

A rebrand that would cut through the noise, connect with creatives everywhere including the next generation, support the company’s growing international reach and ambition all the while embodying the character, community, colour and creativity at GF Smith’s core.

Approach 

Working closely with the GF Smith team at all levels of the business, we led the rebrand process, establishing a ‘Next Chapter’ steering group, carrying out interviews, holding ‘open forums’ where the whole business could attend and hosting regular workshops taking as many people on the journey as possible. This open-source and collaborative approach drew out the brand positioning at the heart of the business GF Smith. Feel good papers. 

We created a versatile, multi-platform branding system that includes a new omni-directional logo that interacts across all levels of the brand architecture, imagery and messaging. Supported by a vibrant, high-contrast colour palette drawn directly from the GF Smith paper collection, the rebrand is radically different in the world of paper. It is future-facing and colourful with a few playful nods to their home city of Hull. The rebrand embodies the GF Smith’s values, their role in the contemporary creative landscape and their commitment to community, colour and creativity.

Impact

‘We think the brand is the most accurate, truthful and honest reflection of our people, values and mission – to connect with and inspire the creative community and the next generation of designers, to help people create using one of the world’s oldest and most natural and sustainable materials, and to do all that by being who we are, an organisation that has community and society at its core.’

Ben Watkinson, Global brand director, GF Smith

A gently radical and a little bit subversive rebrand for an iconic organisation.