Step into the main warehouse at G . F Smith’s Hull-based factory, and one of the first spaces you’ll be met with is dedicated to their cutting and scoring services. This is where you’ll encounter stacks of their distinctive and brightly coloured card, all awaiting their transformation; alongside mocked-up samples that range from a clever slot-together sculpture to precisely constructed boxes. A mix of older and newer machines stand side by side, and pretty much everything is hand operated.

What we learned:
For smaller runs, the team use a machine that uses CAD (computer-aided design) files to produce designs. Then for larger orders, a bespoke cutter is created in wood and metal, with the process taking a few days to complete. And a newly added service includes ‘kiss cutting’, a technique that entails only cutting part-way through material.

All of these possibilities mean the team can produce anything from stickers to flat-pack mechanical boxes (with no need for glue), and in most cases, you’ll also have the opportunity to receive a sample ahead of the final article.

What it’s best for:
Creating gift or display cards and bespoke packaging in all shapes and sizes. If you have a bright idea and access to CAD software, G . F Smith can probably make it for you!

The meeting of old and new is a consistent theme through the entire factory. One of the original embossing machines can still be found on the ground floor – an impressive and grand structure that no doubt dates back to the company’s early years.

What we learned:
Heavy metal rollers are what gives the paper a distinctive 3D texture – with 25 effects to choose from – including the refined and grainy, to the exaggerated and leathery. You can even create a double-embossed effect, where two sides have differing textures – a service that was first made available in the 1930s, and still uses the same machinery.

What it’s best for:
All things paper... This can make the world of difference and add a luxurious finish to everything from packaging or a business card to folders and Make Book covers.

Manned by caring, diligent and particularly work-proud staff, G . F Smith’s envelopes are divided into their ‘standard’ sizes, and custom forms – both created in equally mesmerising fashion. Then in another, quieter zone of the factory, there’s also a separate clan of expert envelope makers; a talented group of four to five workers who craft the company’s bespoke designs.

What we learned:
For the regular shapes, the envelope paper is cut down to size manually, and then hand-fed into old-school machinery that completes each piece. There are a variety of sizes to choose from, including their own, specially developed standard shape, plus the option of peel-and-stick or gummed – all of which come delivered in their own box.

Meanwhile, in the separate area dedicated to bespoke, handmade envelopes, the wilder and more imaginative forms are put together – from the elegant and narrow, to the super-sized.

What it’s best for:
Sending out thoughtfully packaged invites or postal updates to your network that won’t get lost on the doormat; or creating a complementary sleeve for a print project.

Duplexing and tripling is the process of fusing (in official terms, press-laminating) two or three sheets of paper or card together. The result is extra-thickness, but, more importantly, it also means you can have multiple colours in one sheet, then have it bevel cut (creating a slanted edge) to show them off.

What we learned:
If you’re a fan of weighty paper products in multiple colours, this one’s for you. Starting at 175gsm, you can take a single sheet right up to a massive 2000gsm.

What it’s best for:
This finish turns pretty much any paper item into something that anyone would want to keep, whether it’s an invite, business card or presentation. It also makes great mount board for framing.

Available since 2014, G . F Smith’s Make Book is a culmination of many of the factory’s impressive and labour-intensive capabilities. These are custom books, made to order and created between specialist departments across the factory – from a dedicated photo lab to the expert bookbinding workshop.

Make Books boast an almost infinite amount of possibilities when it comes to colours, textures, sizes and finishes, and make for a beautiful portfolio, photo book, and everything in between. We followed the entire process a single Make Book undergoes, observing the painstaking detail that goes into each step – all created by hand, too.

What we learned:
Starting with the printing, each photographic page is then cut to size, creased, bound together, dusted and pressed, before being ‘baked’, or heat set, to seal. After that, the whole thing is pressure set to hold together in a compact, perfectly formed book.

This first stage all takes place within internal photo lab within G . F Smith’s Hull facility, ensuring that all printing is of the highest standard, using rare Silver Halide technology and Fuji Professional Crystal Archive DP2 photographic paper.

All covers and endpapers (the first and last two inside pages) use G . F Smith’s famous Colorplan paper, with a choice of 50 colours and eight textures. And then finally, the covers and spine can be personalised with a variety of papers and finished with foiling, laminate and embossing, to make it your own.

What it’s best for:
Creating perfectly printed, hassle-free and expertly put-together books, no matter what your vision or design.

In one of the cosier corners of the factory, a compact, fastidiously organised room, reminiscent of a library, offers up wooden shelves stacked with more varieties of paper than you’ve ever seen. From weighty and shimmering (including the new Gmund range, complete with real gold in the mix) to the beautifully marbled, this is where the samples requests are handled.

What we learned:
Print is a tactile game, so it’s only natural you’d want to feel a product before ordering, and this is something the company is really dedicated to. In addition to sending out samples of any paper you desire (generally by the next working day), G . F Smith is also one of incredibly few paper merchants to offer a full dummy service.

This means you can get a free test version of your order (usually returned within four days) to make sure you’re happy with it, before sending a larger number to print or fabrication. A dummy is always created with the same level of care as the final, so you get to test the weight, colour, texture and feel of your designs for free, ahead of sending off a final order.

For paper samples, if you send a request on a weekday before 4pm, you’ll receive it the next working day. For dummies, these can usually be returned within four working days.

What it’s best for:
Peace of mind before printing or placing a large order!

Similar to Make Book, Make Frame is G . F Smith’s custom framing service, with all elements made especially in-house at a specialist workshop in the Hull warehouse – from the glass-cutting to the mounting and frame-making.

What we learned:
G . F Smith offer 18 different frame colours to choose from, with the option of elevating the whole thing with a box frame, all handcrafted by an expert team.

The makers and framers here are incredibly skilful and open to ideas, so this is the opportunity to display your work in its very best light, and match the content with a bespoke, complementary frame and mount.

What it’s best for:
Ordering beautiful frames, all from within your browser, delivered within seven working days.

As a brand partner, G . F Smith has supported Lecture in Progress since the beginning. You can discover more about their services at gfsmith.com

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Please note that this article was published in 2018, and some of the services featured are no longer available. Head to the G . F Smith site here to have a look through their current services.