John MaGee has spent more than three decades immersed in screen printing, but he’s the first to admit that mastery didn’t come quickly or easily. “To be fair, the first 10 years I had no idea what I was doing,” he says. “For much of that time, my prints were ‘good enough for punk rock.’”
That honesty has become a defining trait of MaGee’s career, and one of the reasons he’s earned deep trust among printers who follow his work today.
MaGee’s understanding of screen printing didn’t truly click until about 20 years ago, when experience, repetition and problem-solving began to replace guesswork. A decade later, he made a pivotal shift from shop owner to working within the ink manufacturing side of the industry. That transition unlocked a new calling. “I discovered that I really enjoy helping people and preventing them from wasting as much time as I did figure things out,” he says.
While working for ink companies, MaGee noticed a recurring issue: valuable technical knowledge was often withheld or oversimplified. “The guys that were aging out only told customers what they needed to know and not much more,” he explains. Having once been on the receiving end of that frustration as a shop owner, MaGee resolved to do things differently. “I took the approach that I would support people the way I wanted to be supported.”
That philosophy eventually led to the creation of The Traveling Screenprinter, a social-media platform independent of corporate oversight. “By creating my own account, I was free to talk about so much more and in the language of screen printers instead of corporate speak that was cleared by the legal department a month in advance,” he says. The result is instant, unfiltered communication with decorators facing real deadlines and real production challenges.
MaGee recently made an appearance at PubliRoller in Mexico. Image courtesy of The Traveling Screenprinter
Unlike many content creators, MaGee doesn’t plan posts weeks in advance. His ideas come directly from the field. “My content comes from conversations I have with customers through tech support or on the road,” he explains, along with “prints and machines I come across, or content that industry professionals share with me.”
His Instagram feed reflects a deep appreciation for the history of screen printing, often spotlighting vintage presses, rare artifacts, and technical books, many gifted by retiring industry veterans. “I like old cars and motorcycles, so naturally I have an interest in the history of the machines we use,” MaGee says. “I was pleasantly surprised to see that other people liked seeing these relics that were often hidden in the back corner of a shop that I visited.” What began as personal curiosity quickly resonated with others, revealing how much knowledge was being quietly lost as experienced printers left the industry.
As a senior applications development and technical service representative at Avient, MaGee spends his days solving complex print problems stemming from misinformation. “Often, the problem I’m given to solve occurred because of a loss of tribal knowledge at a shop or bad information found on the internet,” he says. Those moments frequently inspire his posts, particularly when he sees inaccurate advice spreading online.
He regularly addresses recurring issues: “Too much squeegee pressure, under curing, over flashing, not managing pallet temperatures, using additives when they actually work against you, too little E.O.M., not understanding off-contact and peel and using the wrong ink chemistry.” These aren’t new problems, but they are persistent ones.
MaGee believes video education resonates because it mirrors how printers actually learn. “I think this industry attracts more visual learners than people who study manuals,” he says. Technical data sheets, often written in dense chemical language, don’t always translate well on a busy production floor. “A quick video in casual screen printer speak can allow you to feel more confident trying something new.”
Speed matters, too. “There is often a fast-approaching deadline to get the job off the press and paid for,” he explains. Social media cuts straight to the answer without the fluff.
Recently, specialty effects printing has become a signature focus of MaGee’s content, not because it’s trendy, but because it reinforces what makes screen printing irreplaceable. “With digital garment decoration slowly impacting more and more printers, I want to remind them of all the things digital printing cannot do,” he says. He pursued special effects in his own shop not for aesthetics, but for mastery. “I wanted to become an ‘elite’ printer… special effects printing gave me a challenge to improve my skill set.”
He’s candid about the fact that there can be a difference between creators and experts. “A lot of the time, creators are just looking for content,” he says. “That does not mean they are an authority.” Too often, he believes, efficiency, scalability and profitability are left out of the conversation in favor of visual appeal alone.
After visiting more than a thousand shops worldwide, MaGee’s perspective has shifted dramatically. “I felt like I was a big deal and one of the best printers I knew back as a business owner,” he admits. Today, exposure to so many operations has deepened both his humility and expertise. More importantly, it’s reinforced his connection to the people behind the presses. “If you put me with a group of printers or shop owners, I’m in my element with my tribe.”
That sense of community carries directly into his content. “When I look at the camera and begin to speak, I’m thinking about my friends that will see that post,” he says. “I’m communicating with my friends.”
MaGee hopes his work encourages the next generation to value and advance the craft. “I want printers to value what they know and desire to advance further,” he says, particularly as AI and digital decoration continue to evolve. While he’s expanded into TikTok and YouTube, his heart remains in education. “I’d like to get back to making more instructional content,” he says, work that may one day be passed on to the next Traveling Screenprinter.
