Bill Hood

Hood was virtually born into the screenprinting industry as the son of a screenprinting father, the late Tom Hood. As a child he helped in the family screenprinting shop by stacking freshly printed signs. As he grew he was advanced through the screenprinting process and eventually started assisting his father as a screenprinter.

However, his first love was in the art department, where he excelled. Many hours were spent cutting lacquer applied to wax paper, which would later be transferred the silk mesh stretched to what was then considered high tension. Having started his career in the “dark ages” of screenprinting, Hood knew that there had to be a better way and started learning everything he could about the process to make life easier for his own family and others. Eventually, his education paid off and as he moved from screenprinter to entrepreneur over the next 60+ years.

Today, Hood is involved in a variety of entrepreneur endeavors within the screenprinting industry including the School of Screenprinting, the Screenprint Store, Solutions Journal Magazine, Screenprint Directory, Screenprint Books, Screenprint Answers, Screenprinters Classified and many others.

Timeline of Accomplishments

1945—61 - Tom Hood Screenprinting – Learned screenprinting in the family business producing signage.

1961 – 65 – United States Navy – Cryptology Operator / Radarman – Served during the Vietnam Conflict

1965 —69 – Windmill Screenprinting – Owner /Operator of a company that printed serigraphs and posters etc. Designed and built first equipment – manual carousel textile printing press, exposure unit and fixed squeegee holder.

1965-69 – Huntsville Item – Art Director / Camera Operator for a weekly Harte-Hanks Newspaper. Worked with Kodak to help develop the Photo Mechanical Transfer (PMT) product as the newspaper was a test site for the new product. Hood helped develop many specialty techniques and processes for Kodak to incorporate in the PMT product.

1969 —71 – Longhorn Printing  – GM / Production Manager of a offset printing company producing manuals for insurance companies.

1971-72 – RonRay Printing – Artist / Production Manager of a thermography company producing a wide range of thermographed products.

1972-73 – Flat Rock Graphics – Owner / Operator of a commercial screenprinting company that produced graphic screenprinting.

1973-74 – Wallace Engraving – Camera Operator for a high end color separator and service bureau.

1974-79 – Austin Sun – Art Director / Camera Operator for a weekly publication.

1981 – Present – Bill Hood Consulting – Owner – Hood has traveled the world as a consultant in the screenprinting industry. He has visited with over 8,000 screenprinters throughout the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia.

1981 – 1984 – Austin MicroType – Co-Owner of Austin’s first electronic service bureau.

1983 – Founded the Austin Arts Bulletin Board Service (BBS) in 1983, the first computer BBS for the an industry – screenprinting. Founded the first online radio station for screenprinting industry which at the time was pre-recorded and broadcast worldwide over the BBS. Austin Arts BBS was the first BBS to run on Macintosh computers. It was also the first BBS to produce audio for its visitors, broadcasting news about screenprinting and music in a pre-recorded method in what was the precursor to Internet Radio. Eventually, the station was moved to the Internet when broadcasting became more commonplace with services like Live365.

1984 – Present – Founder – School of Screenprinting -

1984 – Present – Renamed the Austin Arts BBS to Solutions Journal and moved to it to a print journal. Eventually, the magazine was moved to the Internet is still in existence today as is the audio segment of the BBS, which has been renamed Spin Radio and is now a Podcast.

1984 – Present – Founder – Screenprint Books – Hood originally started this company to publish his own books and articles on screenprinting. Today, the company’s website offer a variety of publications for the screenprinting industry. He has written over 2,000 technical articles for the screenprinting industry and has been widely published in most trade magazines including his own Solutions Journal. He has authored 38 books, mostly on the screenprinting industry.

1984-2000 – Royal Tees Screenprinting – Owner / Operator of a screenprinting operation specializing in textile and graphic screenprinting. Created ScreenQuoter, which was the first computerized estimation program for the industry. Created Screenprint Manager, which was the first computerized print management software for the industry.

1984 – Screenplay Award— Annual international award for the best technical screenprinting produced during the year. Won for a single color white print on a black t-shirt.

1995 – After operating a successful screenprinting business for many years, Bill Hood left the running of the business to family members and decided to give back to an industry that had supported him and his family for so many years by becoming a full time consultant. Today, he is one of the most sought after consultants. Why? Because he has invested the time and effort into becoming the most experienced, knowledgeable and skilled consultant in the world. To that end, he has visited with more than 8,000 screenprinters worldwide over the past 30 years.