Our story

SM∙LT Art - Open, independent & socially responsible brand with unique attitude to products, people and business.

Ever since beginning, from 1994 we were and still are independent company with no intentions to become large and faceless corporation. We chose another path for us; a harder one, but much more rewarding – to be free, flexible and able to make proper and responsible decisions very quickly. As a result, we are brave small company with really BIG ideas. A company that is and thinks at the same level as its end users, drawing artists. There is a price for all that - limited resources, on the other hand it makes us more creative.

We are free to choose the best, most suitable raw materials from the best manufacturers in the world! We are not limited to few self-owned paper mills, as paper producers themselves. Each mill has their strengths and weakness – it’s the real world and our independence lets us to source “the cream” of art papers from different art paper mills around the globe.

Our company developed really unique structure & an informal environment. We have about eighty employees and involve every one of them in business planning at all levels. We allow employees to “travel“ where they want inside the company. We share the information and keep all the doors open. The company has such unconventional business models that we often have to invent new business schemes. It was impossible to find such structure in any of the handbooks, so we created a new one. All these decisions are about employee freedom, motivation, and the ability to create more valuable solutions for our consumers.

We care about people. Both our team, consumers, partners & society. Our Team is one big Family. We accept the people as they are. We try to use every best quality of a team member in our creations. We don’t expect everyone to be ideal and we don’t expect people to be free of flaws and shortcomings. Believe us – it’s not easy, but with such individual approach we are awarded with much better results. And our team not only "does the work", they are fully involved in the management of our company. Decisions "where we will be tomorrow" are made by all members of our family.

We are not only profit-oriented like large corporations. In the operational strategy, 2/3 of our objectives are non-financial. The company employs more than half of employees with disabilities. We create a good work environment, support artists, organize charity events. And we do this not to advertise and earn from it, but to return "our debt" to the society. Our company works for the public, the team and only then – for the owner.

We are open, both sharing our experiences, knowledge, news, even products with consumers, and involving them in our activities. We run different non-sales promotions that are also a form of sharing, openness and gratitude for our brand community. We keep in touch with our consumers. They are our guide. We hear them, understand and implement the solutions that work best for everybody. We communicate directly through social networks. We introduce user feedback to the entire team. We are always happy to receive guests. We are open and even organize excursions in our company. Everyone in our company communicates with consumers (not only colleagues working with social networks). We even organize workshops and art technician trainings for all employees of the company – every day we want to know better the world of Art.

And last but not the least – our products. We have several hundred different kind of them, but each is important and unique as a child. Our products stand out with their authentic minimalist design, naturalness, attention to the details, functional solutions, carefully selected raw materials and quality assurance. The products are developed in consultation with our consumers and various artists. When creating each new product, we must first and foremost answer to ourselves what makes this product stand out? What makes it different? What makes it better? The strategy of creating and producing “different & better” products is also related to our business goals - we strive to be exceptional, working for the needs of consumers, which is why we have chosen this path instead of “producing the same, but cheaper”. Therefore, in the last seven years, we have started exporting to more than thirty countries and continue to grow fast. 

This is why we are different and what we really care about. Are You with us?

@SMLTArt