Artist Spotlight: Shawn Magee

The classic tale of a young student who wouldn’t stop drawing and forge a partnership with a startup NASCAR team launched Cochranton, PA’s Shawn Magee into an unexpected career in designing for a wide palette of NASCAR teams, sponsors and personalities.

1️⃣ How did you get your start in designing?

I started designing logos on my notebook in middle school and attended a commercial art vo-tech course my junior and senior year of high school that thrusted me in to the world of design. 

2️⃣ Where do you turn for inspiration? 

I try to scroll through social media before starting a project. Seeing what’s out there usually helps spawn a unique approach to the project. 

3️⃣ What project of yours personally are you most proud of and why? 

That’s a tough question. One that really stands out to me is getting to design a race logo for the Fr8 208 truck race at Talladega. I was also asked to be the official green flag race starter. It was a very unique opportunity that I’ll never forget. 

4️⃣ What’s your ‘trademark’ style that helps you stand out from other designers? 

My design style contains many bold outlines and hints of metal. 

5️⃣ Your design career started outside of the racing world. How did you find yourself getting involved with it, and did you ever anticipate that sector to become a major part of your business? 

My jump into NASCAR started when a small truck team (Faith Motorsports) approached me in 2016 about helping them launch their program. The funding was very limited so I bartered with them to allow me one full-sponsored SMD-branded truck wrap per season in return for graphic support. From that point, I was able to network and eventually teamed up with Front Row Motorsports on a commemorative logo for David Ragan’s 400th NASCAR start. That logo was placed on the decklid of the Fr8Auctions Ford Fusion and eventually led to a great partnership with Fr8Auctions that lasted for the next five years. 

6️⃣ In 2018, your own branding was featured on a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Silverado with Faith Motorsports along with a special tribute to the victims of the previous year’s Las Vegas shooting. What is the story of how that truck came together? 

The SMD truck that ran at Texas Motor Speedway was shortly after the shootings in Vegas. We had space on the bed of the truck and thought that it would be a great way to honor the victims that lost their lives in the tragic shooting. The names of all of the victims are shown on the bed.

7️⃣ Trophy design doesn’t come up very often for many designers. When designing one, what are some of the key similarities and differences, and what is the overall process like? 

Designing a trophy is unlike any other design project. This is where those 3D tests in high school come into play. You have to take into account the depth and how pieces would layer on top of each other.

I worked closely with the trophy producers and Fr8Auctions to create a sleek trophy for the [NASCAR] Cup [Series] qualifying event at Talladega in 2018. Kevin Harvick won the pole and hoisted the first trophy design by SMD. That trophy would be the first of six trophies.

The next trophy design was for the Fr8Auctions 200 truck race at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2021. Kyle Busch won that race, and again in 2025—so he has two SMD trophies in his case.

Each of the truck race trophies were tweaked from the previous year. It’s a unique part of my portfolio that I’ll forever be grateful to Fr8Auctions for giving me the opportunity to be part of such a cool project. 

8️⃣ Back in 2019, you brought the iconic Mystery Machine to the No. 32 of Corey LaJoie at Martinsville for Halloween, which became a fan favorite. How did you land on that idea for the design and was there any consultation with Warner Bros.? 

The Mystery Machine paint scheme for Corey was a blast to create. The idea came from Keen Parts owner TJ Keen — she loved Scooby Doo and wanted to incorporate into their paint scheme running at Martinsville.

We worked with representatives from Warner Brothers to make sure the design complied with brand standards and highlighted the 50th anniversary of Scooby Doo. The paint scheme would go on to win NASCAR on NBC’s 2019 Paint Scheme of the Year. 

9️⃣ Your client portfolio remained impressively consistent with drivers such as Brett Moffitt, Timmy Hill, Michael McDowell, and Corey LaJoie, among other drivers. How often did these drivers help design their cars?

Most drivers don’t have much input on the paint schemes as long as the sponsor is happy! However, a few drivers are move involved than others. I did a paint scheme for the No. 88 of Alex Bowman at the [Charlotte Motor Speedway] Roval in 2020. Alex didn’t see the paint scheme until it was unveiled at an event for Nationwide Insurance.

Corey LaJoie was probably the most involved from start to finish. He was always great to work with and would often times call me up and chat about his vision before we started the project. I would also work with driver/team owners, like Timmy Hill, to create paint schemes. Timmy would give direct feeedback on concepts and we’d usually have a design finalized by Round 2. 

🔟 Share a design tip for people just getting started. 

A tip for designers just starting out is to keep designing and creating a network in the area that you want to pursue. Building connections and relationships with other designers, drivers, crew members could eventually lead to your next opportunity. 

For more from Shawn, follow SMD Racing on Instagram.