The new brand, designed by Templo, was unveiled on Tuesday evening and marked a complete departure from its previous look.
The smiley new GF Smith wordmark – including a winking F and distortion when animated, as below – proved particularly controversial, with some posts on social media likening it to something more suitable for a toy shop or children’s product, and with concerns voiced that it cheapened the GF Smith brand.
Posting on GF Smith’s Instagram page after the firm revealed its new look, graphic designer Paul Worthy said: “Really sad to see this, from an iconic design to... a smiley face logo?! That was a brand that felt refined, considered, British, and of course premium.
“The question I keep coming back to is 'why?' This makes no sense to me, but clearly you [GF Smith] would have had a reason. If you don't want to be seen as premium any more, are we going to see lower prices? I'm not here to have a go, it just genuinely feels like we've lost a great piece of design.”
Some commenters also queried the date, and whether the new look was an April Fool.
However, others loved the new look. Artist Big Bad Ben said: “I think some folks here are missing the point a bit – it's a highly dynamic identity that actually has some depth to it.
“Admittedly, at first glance I was a bit taken back but after looking through the usage, it makes perfect sense visually and it opens up so much they can do for the customer going forward. Sure, it’s very modern and lacks some luxury but it’s certainly more playful and I think fits great with Colorplan and their other products. “
He also praised the motion design and embossing visuals.
“It’s just a fun looking brand now and it does relate to the customer experience; if you’re someone that loves receiving new paper (proper paper nerds) then mostly it’s a fun experience.”
In response to the criticism, GF Smith global brand director Ben Watkinson told Printweek: “We’ve had an amazing response to the rebrand overall, and we welcome the discussion too.
“Big shifts always trigger strong responses, and we are of course aware that we’ve sparked commentary on social media. This was expected; we’ve set out to do something bold and fresh, and creativity should stir emotions.”
Watkinson also said that he hoped the fresh look would help to make paper more approachable.
“We loved our old logo and identity. It did a phenomenal job of communicating GF Smith as a historic premium paper brand and a trusted supplier to the luxury sector. But, today, that’s far from all we are.
“We have papers in our collection at every price point. Some quite rightly demand a premium because of how they’re made or where they’re from. Others are more affordable or entry level.
“As printers know, pricing a project always depends on quantities, timelines and many other factors. We believe there are GF Smith products that are accessible for any and every creative project. We want as many creatives and printers as possible to access our papers, and consider paper-based printed solutions, alongside digital, for their projects.
“We don’t believe paper or print should immediately be assumed to be a ‘luxury’, which is why our minimum order is 25 sheets. The new identity is about making print and creativity feel like a wide open space, not closed off to anyone. I hope this rebrand will help more creatives and studios think of paper, and print, as an approachable medium for their projects.”
He also noted that heritage in the paper industry was not a differentiator given that so many companies in the field were long-established businesses. GF Smith itself was founded in 1885.
“Heritage is, of course, incredibly important to us – we’re 140 this year – but it should propel us forward rather than hold us back. And that’s what this rebrand has done. We’re a paper company that sells premium paper to a huge variety of creative customers around the world. We want to inspire them as they are now – not as who they were a decade ago.”
Some people also queried the use of an innovative circular swatch, with the paper samples held using a carabiner, in terms of potential wastage due to the shape.
Watkinson revealed that the firm plans to create a new paper range using trim.
He explained: “The cover of the carabiner swatch is made from our latest material – GF Smith Offcut – which is made from our factory offcuts. As Printweek readers know, paper is one of the most sustainable materials and can be recycled numerous times. So although there will be some wastage (which is the case even in square formats), that waste can be, is, and will be, fully recycled and reused.
“The Offcut programme at GF Smith is new, and we will be excited to share more about this in the coming months. The ambition of Offcut is to take all of our factory paper-based waste and turn it into a new paper range which will be commercially available soon.”
He added: “The packaging of the carabiner swatch has been made using GF Smith Colorflute – a fully sustainable and recyclable packaging solution. This means every piece of the carabiner swatch has been considered, from paper to production and beyond.”
The investment in the rebrand was not disclosed.
GF Smith held a launch event in Manchester last night, with further events in London and Glasgow planned as well as internationally.
The Hull-headquartered firm had sales of £30.77m in its latest accounts, for the year to 31 October 2023. At that time £6.1m of sales were to export markets outside the UK.