OUGD504: Brief 4- GF SMITH visit.

GF SMITH visited with examples of their different stocks. The main one they have is colour plan but they showed many others such as textured stocks and specialised stocks. The main one that caught my eye in relation to brief 4 was "softy" as it felt like fabric and was extremely tactile which would therefore suit my current brief based on horses. 

A few other samples also stood out to me which included this set below. The outer cover felt like velvet as it was incredibly soft and the stocks inside are also incredibly interesting including the gold one below. The colours purple and gold in these stocks could definitely be used for some upmarket branding. 

They also had a wide range of different coloured stocks including some of the beautiful pastel tones shown below. 

GF SMITH stocks are incredibly beautiful and well presented too. However they are incredibly expensive, I managed to order a couple of free samples which could be experimented with for brief 4 (print). 

I will try to print my A5 flyer onto a few different types of their stocks. I ordered three different samples which link to my brief as two are different textures and the third is the "softy" shown above. When I return to university in January and have access to the digital print facility I will print my A5 poster onto these three samples. Although these products are expensive they are stunning and perhaps would not be used for a charitable organisation as the costs would need to be kept low. 

Stock experiments:

Softy-

The ink didn't sit well on this stock at all. Especially with small type it looks scruffy and also the black ink is easily transferred off this. The colours are also muted and although in theory this stock would of been perfect due to its tactile nature. It is only useful for photographs and large text within a minimal design. 

Accent Fresco-

Colour Plan-

The two examples above worked perfectly and the textured stock allows the design to sit well on top. The colours are bright and the print is crisply neat, the ink hasn't bled or smudged. If the project were to have a higher budget on a commercial level these GF stocks would be perfect for the flyers as they are tactile and something worth keeping. They also give the paper a rougher surface rather than being simply matt.