G. William (Bill) Hood (born 12 Oct 1945) – Hood entered the screenprinting technologies almost at birth, having been born to the late Tom Hood, a screenprinter in the Dallas, Texas, area.

He worked in the family screenprinting business until entering the military during the Vietnam Conflict in 1961.

Hood first served as a Cryptologist, analyzing and deciphering encoded signals, in a remote station in the mountains of Hawaii for two years. Next, he was assigned to the U.S. Ranger as a Radarman and then was promoted to Assistant Air Traffic Controller.

After the Vietnam Conflict, he accepted a position as an artist and screenprinter for Graham Outdoor Advertising in San Antonio, Texas. While at Graham, he designed and produced screenprinted advertising for the Hemisfair ’68 exhibition, commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of San Antonio. Hood worked during the evenings producing a wide variety of commercial art for businesses in San Antonio.

Hood next turned his attention to his education and attended Sam Houston University in Huntsville, Texas to seek a degree in Fine Art with a minor in Printmaking, specifically in serigraphy and screenprinting. While in university, Hood opened his first screenprinting business, Windmill Screenprinting, in Huntsville, Texas, where he produced serigraphs and posters.

While attending university, Hood worked at the Huntsville Item weekly newspaper where he was the Art Director. While in this position, he assisted Kodak with their upcoming Photo Mechanical Transfer (PMT) method. The process was used to make high definition copies of photos and advertisement for paste ups, which were then photographed onto negatives using a large process Robertson camera.

After university, Hood moved to Houston, Texas, where he opened Flat Rock Graphics, again specializing in graphic design and screenprinting.

Hood relocated to Austin, Texas, in 1973, becoming the founder of Bill Hood Consulting and the School of Screenprinting. During which time, he founded and operated two screenprinting companies. In 1983, Hood founded Solutions Journal Magazine, the first online publication for screenprinting technologies. Hood is a prolific writer and author of over 80 books and thousands of technical articles.

Hood has visited over 63 countries as a consultant in the screenprinting industry, helping others achieve higher quality and control over the variables of the screenprinting process.

Hood also served as the Southwest Technical Representative for Stretch Devices, Inc., and was the Marketing Director and Screenprint Products Manager of Graphic Solutions Group in Dallas, Texas.

CAREER

• 1949 – 61 – Tom Hood Screenprinted Signs – Learned screenprinting in the family business, producing signage and graphic printing.
• 1961 – 64 – United States Navy – Cryptology Operator / Radarman / Assistant Air Traffic Controller – Served during the Vietnam Conflict
• 1964 – 1965 – Graham Outdoor Advertising, San Antonio, Texas – Art Director and Process Camera Operator.
• 1964 – Present – Bill Hood Designs, San Antonio, Texas, specializing in art for screenprinting technologies.
• 1965 – 69 – Windmill Screenprinting, Huntsville, Texas – While enrolled at Sam Houston State University, Owner /Operator of a company that printed serigraphs and posters, etc. Designed and built first equipment – a manual printing press, exposure unit, and adjustable squeegee holder allowing for settable angle and pressure for manual printing.
• 1965 – Present – Solutions Publishers, Huntsville, Texas. While enrolled at Sam Houston State University, Solutions Publishing is committed to producing great content that exceeds readers’ expectations.
• 1965 – 69 – Huntsville Item, Huntsville, Texas, While enrolled at Sam Houston State University – Art Director / Editorial Cartoonist / Camera Operator for a weekly Harte-Hanks Newspaper. While at the Huntsville Item, Hood worked with Kodak to research the Photo-Mechanical Transfer (PMT) process for use in the newspaper industry.
• 1969 – 71 – Longhorn Printing – Owner, Houston, Texas / commercial lithography printing company.
• 1971 – 72 – RonRay Printing, Houston, Texas – Artist / Production Manager of a thermography company producing a wide range of thermography products.
• 1972 – 73 – Flat Rock Graphics, Houston, Texas – Owner / Operator of a commercial screenprinting company that produced graphic screenprinting.
• 1973 – Present –  Founded Bill Hood Consulting, Austin, Texas, providing services to screenprinting technologies.
• 1973 – Present – School of Screenprinting, Austin, Texas – Owner / Director – specializing in educational training for screenprinting technologies, http://schoolofscreenprinting.com.
• 1973 – 74 – Wallace Engraving, Austin, Texas – Camera Operator for a high-end color separator and service bureau.
• 1974 – 79 – Austin Sun, Austin, Texas – Art Director / Camera Operator for a weekly publication.
• 1981 – 1984 – Austin MicroType, Austin, Texas – Co-Owner of Austin’s first electronic service bureau.
• 1981 – 1986 – Founder and Executive Director of Texas Association of Screenprinting, Austin, Texas.
• 1982 – 1984 – Co-Owner of William Lee Printing, Austin, Texas, specializing in fine art printing and serigraphs.
• 1983 – Founded Solutions Journal Magazine™, Austin, Texas, as the first online magazine for screenprinting technologies, http://solutionsjournal.com.
• 1983 – Present – Founded Screenprint Books™, Austin, Texas – Publishes and sells books and articles on screenprinting. Hood’s book, 50 Ways to Increase Your Business – Insight, Advice, and Lessons Learned for Textile Screenprinters, was the first eBook for screenprinting technologies, http://screenprintbooks.com.
• 1983 – Present – Founder of Who’s Who in Screenprinting – http://whoswhoinscreenprinting.com.
• 1983 – 2004 – Royal Tees Screenprinting™, Austin, Texas – Owner / Operator of a screenprinting operation specializing in textile and graphic screenprinting.
• 1983 – 2004 – Founded William Lee Serigraphy, Austin, Texas – Owner / Operator of a screenprinting operation specializing in fine art reproduction.
• 1984 – Created ScreenQuoter™, the first computerized estimation program for screenprinting technologies.
• 2000 – Created Screenprint Manager™, the first computerized print management software for screenprinting technologies.
• 2000 – 2010 – Screenprint Store™, Austin, Texas– Owner – An online store offering equipment and supplies for screenprinting technologies.
• 2004 – 2006 – Co-owner of Ultrasol Inks, USA, Austin, Texas.
• 2016 – Winner of the prestigious Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT). Dave Swormstedt, Sr. Memorial Award for outstanding technical writing ability and exceptional industry insight. The article is: “The Golden Image Ratio of Image to Screen Size: A Mathematical Reference Offering a Visual Guide as to the Proper Image to Screen Ratio.”
• 2016 – Best in Class Award by the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT). for outstanding technical writing ability and industry insight.
• 2017 – Inducted into the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT).
• 2020 – Founded Screenprint Process Technical Research Center (SPTRC.org)
• 2020 – Founded Screenprint Research Journal
• 2022 – Founded two new magazines for the screenprinting technologies; Screenprint, published in English, and Serigrafía, published in Spanish.

INNOVATIONS

• 1983 – Developed the One Hit White™ screenprinting process for textile printing.
• 1983 – Created the terms “Fill Blade™” and “Fill Stroke™” as neologisms for the misrepresentative terms ‘flood-bar’, ‘flood-blade’ and ‘flood-stroke’ as the purpose of the blade is to ‘fill’ the mesh openings with ink and not to ‘flood’ the surface of the screen as the misnomer implies.
• 1983 – Founded the Austin Arts Bulletin Board Service (BBS), Austin, Texas. In 1983, the first computer BBS was for screenprinting technologies. Founded the first radio station for screenprinting technologies, 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. The station eventually became Screenprinters Radio, an internet based radio station.
• 1984 – Created the technique of “Anti-Friction Coating™.” The phrase describes the face coat of emulsion on the squeegee side of the stencil to fill the voids produced by the drying emulsion. This produces a highly smooth surface that lowers the mechanical resistance of the fill blade and squeegees, significantly increasing the production speed and sharp, crisp lines of the printed image.
• 1985 – Developed the OC Frame Device™ to ensure the accuracy of off-contact between the frame, mesh and substrate.
• 2005 – Sold the manufacturing rights to the Roller Squeegee™,  to Action Engineering.
• 2005 – Developed the Parallel and Geometric Plane Pallet™ (PGPP), in which the manufacturing rights were sold to Action Engineering.

TECHNICAL ARTICLES

Since the 1960s, Hood has written thousands of technical articles published in trade magazines and professional journals. He normally writes at least one article daily, depending on his consulting schedule.

AWARDS & HONORS

• 1961 – Vietnam Service Medal
  
• 1962 – Navy Unit Commendation
• 1962 – Meritorious Unit Commendation
• 1962 – Navy Expeditionary Medal
• 1963 – National Defense Service Medal
• 1963 – Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
• 1964 – Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation – Gallantry Cross
• 1964 – Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
• 1984 – Screenplay International Award, Best Technical Print — for a single color white print on a black t-shirt, a One Hit White™ print.
• 2016 – Best in Class Award by the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT). for outstanding technical writing ability and exceptional industry insight, The Golden Image Ratio of Image to Screen Size.
• 2016 – Dave Swormstedt, Sr. Memorial Award by the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT) for outstanding technical writing ability and exceptional industry insight
• 2017 – Inducted into the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT).
• 2023 – Best in Class Award by the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT). for outstanding technical writing ability and exceptional industry insight, Next Generation Printheads Surpass 380MPA’s.
• 2023 – Best in Class Award by the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT). for outstanding technical writing ability and exceptional industry insight, Why You Need a Thickness Gauge.
• 2024 – Joe Clarke Innovator Award. For exhibiting the Joe Clarke spirit with the same selfless attitude in their contributions that have helped to make our industry better and more profitable.

MEMBERSHIP

• Fellow Member in the Academy of Screen and Digital Print Technologies (ASDPT).
• Rotary International
• Serigrafia Italia
• Lifetime Member of the Specialty Graphic Imaging Association (SGIA)
• Lifetime Fellow of Screenprinting Process Technical Research Center (SPTRC)

CIVIC

• Member of Rotary International, serving as President of Northeast Austin Rotary Club and Assistant Governor of Rotary District 5870 for three terms
• Paul Harris Fellow
• Served as President of the Parent Teachers Association in Austin, Texas, for four years
• Member of Friendly Favors – a worldwide group of over 67,307 participants in 198 countries
• Member and Volunteer in the Newcomers Club of Cuernavaca, Mexico
• Publisher and Editor of Viva Cuernavaca Magazine,  for expats in Cuernavaca, Mexico

PRESENT

Hood currently lives in Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, about an hour and a half south of Mexico City. He remains in demand as a consultant, speaker, seminar presenter, writer, innovator, and mentor to many. He is the founder of Solutions Publishers™, where he publishes his works and those of others.

He may be contacted through his website at https://billhoodconsulting.com

Above is a postcard from 1983 for the Austin Arts BBS, the first online to produce technical information for screenprinters. The number had to be blacked out as another business uses it now.