John Rushgrove has set up Superior Foil Printing in the Melbourne suburb of Hallam along with his wife Lee and partner Andrew Tunstall.

It follows a few years away from business in which he claims to have developed a new finishing process that gets an unprecedented 7mm embossing depth. “The biggest I have ever seen before is 3mm,” he told ProPrint.

Rushgrove, who uses old Heidelberg platens and letterpress machinery, said the secret was all in the process. “All I have done is worked on how to get the emboss to the deepest level possible. To me, that is what embellishing is all about. Anyone can put foil on a bit of board but the embossing side really wins praise.”

He has entered work showing the technique in the 2011 awards of the US Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA). He has chalked up a number of medals in past ceremonies with company Silverhaze Graphics (pictured), but this year hopes to land the coveted “best in show” award.

“I think this will change the face of foiling stamping and embossing around the world,” he said.

Rushgrove set up Foilmasters in 1989 before selling it to Colorpak in 1999. He went on to establish Redback Finishing, which was taken over by Avon Graphics in 2008, but closed soon after.

Rushgrove said that US industry had been “blown away” when they saw results of the process. He is due to produce the cover for the 2012 programme for the FSEA awards. 

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