Larry Perez Signs & Graphix • Round Rock

Larry Perez Signs & Graphix • Round Rock

Written by Amy Stansbury Thursday, 07 February 2008

Third generation sign-maker Larry Perez worked for his uncle Andy Balderas for 12 years at First Dollar Signs. After his uncle died unexpectedly in 1986, Perez planned to leave Round Rock.

“I had gotten rid of everything [I owned] and was going to travel around the country, but all of the customers knew me. I think they were trying to help me out,” Perez said. “They just started asking, ‘Hey Larry, can you do this, and can you do that?’ So I just never left.”

Today, Perez Signs & Graphix is across the street from where First Dollar Signs used to be on Mays Street.

Perez said what makes him different from most other sign-makers is, like his uncle, he is an artist who draws freehand the artwork and lettering for the signs. He blends his 33 years of hand-painting experience with today’s technologies to create custom signs.

“I still hand-paint signs, and there are only a few hand-painters left in the Austin area. No one is teaching it anymore,” Perez said.

When a customer wants to place an order, Perez draws a rough sketch on a piece of paper and gets the concept approved. Then the drawing is scanned into a computer and the sign is printed
in-house.

“We put small orders in the front of the line to get them done quickly,” he said. “We have surprised a lot of customers who come in and say, ‘I know there is no way you can do this, but if there is any way we could get this tomorrow...’ and
a lot of times we do it.”

Perez has made many of the signs around Round Rock and neighboring communities, like the panther in the Pflugerville High School gym, the decals on the Round Rock Police Department patrol cars, and the dragon on the water tower in Round Rock, which he hand-painted on a ladder while swaying in the wind 86 feet in the air.

Some of Perez’s more interesting work includes painting the side of a circus elephant, airbrushing green muscles on a man to make him look like The Incredible Hulk and creating a 12-foot foam telephone for a billboard.

With a belief that signs play an important role in making a town beautiful, Perez said he sometimes gives discounts to local businesses.

“I want them to be able to afford a great sign. It’s my city, too,” he said.

After more than 30 years in Round Rock, Perez is known locally, but he also services customers all over Texas and the United States. He estimates more than 200 customers call or come to the store daily.

“We’re probably the biggest sign company in Central Texas,” Perez said. “My business has grown by 10 to 20 percent each year for the past 22 years in a row.”

In the shop

Larry Perez Signs & Graphix has 12 employees, including four graphic designers. Two wide-format digital printers are used to create car wraps, the vinyl used to fully cover vehicles with signage.

The garage, where much of the decal work is done on vehicles, has printed vinyl covering the floor, simulating a wooden-floor basketball court and features the company’s logo at center court.

Larry Perez Signs & Graphix, 304 N. Mays St., Round Rock, TX, 512-255-0758, www.LarryPerezSigns.com