If market saturation is Avon Graphics’ blueprint for success, then the Melbourne-based embellishment guru is doing an outstanding job of it.

The National Print Awards winners list reads the Avon Graphics name as the finishing, embossing and foiling company for countless winning entries, and with locations in Australia’s biggest print cities, Avon does not want printers to look in any other direction.

Avon Graphics, a family-owned embellishing business, is recognised as one of the most well established and well-known finishing companies in Australia. Built on a trade-only business model, 30 long years in the industry and a knack for quality and loyalty has catapulted Avon into success.

The finishing expert certainly has its finger on the pulse of the print industry. Frequenting almost every local and international tradeshow and investing in the freshest solutions keeps Avon Graphics the first name Australia’s biggest printers think of when it comes to trade embellishment services.

A cutthroat industry has derailed many traditional printers. But the niche market of finishing, foiling, laminating and embellishing has exploded, and Avon is riding the wave all across the country.

The market is now teeming with companies demanding short-run, or even one-of-a-kind print pieces with intricate embellishment, and Avon Graphics is definitely up for the challenge.

Avon is operated by father-son duo Trevor and Tate Hone. The Hone family has ink in their blood and firmly believe the finishing industry – though the path may be beaten – still has enormous opportunity in terms of growth and industry spend.

“Growth comes in waves for packaging, foil stamping and embossing. It’s really on-trend on the shelf at the moment and all of our competitors have followed suit. It won’t last forever but it’s going to last quite a while,” says Tate Hone, co-managing director at Avon Graphics.

Avon’s saving grace in a ruthless marketplace is establishing itself solely through trade printing. Hone says one of the chief reasons printers can trust Avon is its devotion to the trade print industry, and the security that Avon will never compete against its own clients in an already strained market.

“Being only in trade printing means printers feel safe bringing their work to us because we are not going to compete and we are not dealing directly with any customers. So that’s our number one rule, we will never be in contact with any of their clients – unless we are asked to advise on technical elements,” says Hone.

The economy of sharing industry load amongst trade printers is heartily embraced by Avon Graphics. Hone says dealing directly with printers minimises risks such as re-printing, artwork mistakes or miscommunication.

“We prefer to deal with printers because they understand exactly what we do, they understand how to prepare the artwork and send it to us, and there’s less risk involved for everyone,” explains Hone.

Embellishment has been Avon’s core business for the best part of its 30-year history, but as the industry condenses and full-turnkey models become the norm, the Hone men know diversification is key.

Large format

“Large format has been growing for us and there are some big things coming up for us in that department.

“Our large format expansion started in Melbourne and has made its way up to Brisbane. Queensland has been in operation for a couple of months, and it is doing really well. It already accounts for about 20 per cent of our turnover, and our end goal is to have about fifty per cent of our national turnover as wide format. We are on track to achieve this within the next 24 months. Sydney is installing equipment at the moment and will be offering its wide format service in September”.

In Avon’s Melbourne branch, the facility houses five Mimaki JFX500 LED UV flatbeds, three Mimaki JV300 presses and an EFI Vutek. The business is also moving into textile printing with the installation of another Mimaki printer.

According to Tate, Avon’s fresh approach is edging towards a full turn-key service, as well as branching out across Australia and tapping into the locations which offer  the biggest print markets.

The company possesses three manufacturing plants; in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. All sites have a range of equipment from small, half and full sheet size embellishment machinery to coatings which complement the release of its new trade large format printing and finishing department in Melbourne.

Tate Hone and his father Trevor have been co-managing Avon together from their home-base in Melbourne, and after 40 years at the helm Trevor is now looking to step back and pass the reins on to his son.

“We are going through a transition period where Trevor is stepping back and I am taking on more of the business. We have been joint-managing the business for about four years now, and I have really enjoyed working with him,” says Tate.

“I am pretty lucky in the fact that he listens and backs new ideas, and without his backing our large format department would not have happened. So the older generation at Avon are pretty open to ideas and I think we are a fairly progressive business.”

Building a collection of loyal clients, trust in a shaky industry and developing booming locations across Australia still does not tick all the boxes for the family-owned finishing business.

As the industry grows and innovates, keeping an eye on the latest developments in machinery and solutions is crucial. Tate Hone and his staff frequent the world’s biggest tradeshows, including drupa, Fespa, PacPrint and Visual Impact to ensure that they are using the optimum technology to meet their clients’ expectations, a strategy that clearly seems to be working.

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