The new brand positioning and visual identity have been created by cause-led branding agency Templo after it carried out an extensive research process designed to explore GF Smith’s people, culture, values and purpose, and bring them to the forefront of its visual brand expression.

Hull-based GF Smith’s last major branding project took place in 2014. To reflect the shifts in the business and its market since then, and align with its plans for international growth, the company wanted a rebrand that would connect with the creative sector and support its growth ambitions, “while embodying the character, community, colour and creativity at the company’s core”.

GF Smith global brand director Ben Watkinson said: “We felt that our visual identity, though much loved inside and outside the company and right for GF Smith at the time, no longer reflected who we were as an organisation or as people, and that it was the right time to change, to create a new energy for the brand and, above all else, to look forward to the future.”

Templo has previously worked with the likes of the UN, Amnesty International, Climate Change Committee, the V&A, the British Council, Atelier100, and Free Syria’s Disappeared.

Its founders, Anoushka Rodda and Pali Palavathanan, said they were inspired by “the humanity and warmth of GF Smith, its ‘gently radical’ spirit, and the company’s commitment to environmental and social causes – exemplified by the launch of the GF Smith Charitable Trust”.

Rodda and Palavathanan led the rebrand process, establishing a ‘Next Chapter’ steering committee and hosting regular briefings with all employees to steward the development and implementation of the new branding.

Together, they formed the “building blocks of the new brand positioning”: 1. 2. 3. Why paper?; Why GF Smith paper?; and Why GF Smith?

Taken together, and encapsulated in the phrase ‘GF Smith. Feel good papers’, Templo said these three elements are captured in GF Smith’s new logo, which has changed the letterforms of the brand name into the eyes and smile of a new wordmark.

The logo is supported by bespoke sans-serif typeface, GF Smith Homie by Blaze Type, which the company said “is friendly and full of personality, while having the versatility and legibility to suit any number of applications in both digital and print”.

Supported by a colour palette drawn directly from the company’s paper collection, the rebrand is designed to support the GF Smith brand and products at all levels.

The branding also encompasses the new GF Smith Charitable Trust, which has been set up to support access to creative education and creative-industry careers for the community across Hull and more widely across the UK.

The introduction of GF Smith’s new brand coincides with the launch of its new website, developed by Made by ON in close collaboration with Templo.

The launch of the new rebrand and site will be marked with a film produced by Templo and filmmaker John Ingle, featuring a bespoke score by Fredwave and sculptures by paper artist Nathan Ward. 

The new branding will be introduced through a range of merchandise and apparel, including partnerships with sustainable brands Nalgene and Pangaia, all of which will be available to purchase.

The profits from sales will add directly to the GF Smith Charitable Trust pot, with the proceeds from merchandise set to add to the 2% of profits that GF Smith contributes to the Charitable Trust annually.

A limited-edition semicircle Smile book is in production, alongside the GF Smith Colorplan carabiner, a new take on a paper swatch that will feature 10 new colours, showcasing the refreshed GF Smith Colorplan range and highlighting, in particular, the value of paper as a sustainable material.

“As GF Smith continues to lead the UK’s premium paper market and grow internationally, this new identity will play an essential role in extending our global reach and sharing our love for paper with new creative audiences around the world,” said Gareth Sheekey, managing director of GF Smith.

The company’s new brand will launch with a series of events in London, Manchester, and Glasgow, and a programme of international events in early 2025.