G . F Smith is a world-renowned fine paper company. In the years since they were founded in 1885, they’ve built strong relationships with emerging and student designers – often visiting universities to deliver talks and workshops. During these visits, the team receives a lot of questions from students eager to ensure their designs come out as they envisioned them. Read on to discover the most-asked questions emerging designers are asking and the expert advice the team have to offer – all to ensure your designs come out even better than you imagined.

When working on a project that involves print and paper, it’s best to start by asking yourself:

• Are you designing for a brand that uses a specific colour? If so, you might want to consider using a coloured paper rather than reproducing the colour using ink.

• Do you want vibrant colours and rich blacks? If so, a coated paper would work particularly well for colour reproduction.

• Do you need a paper with great opacity? If so, a bulky, opaque paper can help with the amount of show-through from one side of the paper to the next.

• Do you want something more textural? If so, uncoated papers can create beautiful results that give a subtle texture while maintaining colour reproduction.

Like paper, there are many print processes available – from commercial printing processes designed for thousands of copies of a job, to unique digital printing designed to offer small quantities with the possibility of personalisation.

The texture of the paper you chose will affect how the ink works on it. Each paper and print process has unique qualities that may lend themselves to a specific project. For example, soft cotton papers are usually preferred for letterpress, while strong and colourful papers are used for packaging. Embossed textures, like the Colorplan embossing ranges, allow a paper to truly stand out.

This is dependent on how you will be printing. A great starting place is to convert your design files to the correct colour setting (usually CMYK) before printing. Also, recognising the difference between coated and uncoated paper will allow you to benefit from the differing ways the two papers take ink. A coated paper is completely smooth and will give greater colour vibrancy to print, whereas an uncoated paper will give an image that is less sharp, but enhanced by the texture of the sheet.

What are some trends in paper and print design?
Print is a rapidly growing and exciting technology. While G . F Smith papers work amazingly with new machinery and are regularly used to create projects combining new and old techniques, we have always seen trends favour more traditional printmaking.

Screen printing and letterpress are just some techniques we love to see. Combined with the colours and textures of the G . F Smith paper collection, designs become elevated and even more inspiring.

We are committed to decreasing our environmental impact on the world with our natural paper products. Paper, by its very nature, is one of the world’s most sustainable and renewable materials. Continually recycled and natural, it can repeatedly be brought back to life and repurposed.

G . F Smith papers have a low environmental impact in their manufacturing, and many of the papers we carry have specific environmental accreditations, which are all detailed in our Collection, G . F Smith’s physical sample book, and online.

As a company, we’ve also set out to extend the life of our products. For some ranges, we use a recycling chain, where paper can be re-processed between five and seven times, following the principles of closed-loop manufacturing.

Virgin fibres from sustainably managed forests are needed to maintain the paper cycle. Without new fibres from new trees, the paper cycle cannot be maintained. Recycled fibres degrade after several uses, and the paper industry needs fresh fibre from responsibly managed forests to keep the renewable cycle going.

Conscious consumption must be preceded by conscious manufacturing. Made from a continually renewable and natural material, paper is one of the most recycled products in existence. Paper will continue to change and evolve as new methods come to market, and we are committed to being leaders in this field. The G . F Smith Collection now includes several pioneering and innovative alternative papers that are wholly or partly manufactured from post-consumer (PCW) or post-industrial waste (PIW).

G . F Smith Extract is a paper we’ve created that takes used disposable cups and transforms them into beautiful paper. Disposable paper coffee cups are currently part of an unsustainable supply chain, as they have almost all been destined for landfill. Extract comes in ten colours, resulting from a unique collaboration between the consumer, recycler, and papermaker.

The process for this paper uses CupCycling™ technology, which takes 90% of the waste from each cup and converts it back into FSC-certified paper fibre. This means every sheet of Extract in 380gsm paper contains at least five upcycled coffee cups. The remaining 10% of waste, which is plastic, will become something else entirely. It is a zero-waste process, so the more Extract that gets used, the fewer cups go to landfill or incineration.

G . F Smith is delighted to be the exclusive global paper distributor for Notpla, the latest addition to our collection, which is a paper derived from seaweed. Other ranges in our collection are made with hemp, which has an exceptional lifespan and can be recycled many times over.

The use of alternative fibre is an exciting space of innovation that is moving fast, and we are proud to be involved in pushing what is possible. Click here to explore the alternative fibre papers in our Collection.

We’ve been supporting generations of creatives since 1885. From paper lectures to sponsorship schemes and samples, we aim to support and further the education of students and graduates entering the creative industries.

We offer a free sample service for students to enable them to experiment with our papers. You can order up to ten A4 sheets. All our papers are available to buy online, and we offer a 20% student and graduate discount through Student Beans.

Our team of Paper Consultants visit creative courses, designers, studios and brands across the UK, offering paper and printing advice and showcasing inspirational design work. If you’d like us to visit your course, please get in touch.

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G. F Smith is a Creative Lives in Progress brand partner. Every year, we partner with like-minded brands and agencies to support our initiative and keep Creative Lives a free resource for emerging creatives. To find out more about how you can work with us, email [email protected]