Cover Story
Great, by Design
A closer look at Paul and Toni Fulks
Paul Fulks, owner of 3Di Sign+Design, is equal parts art and science – while enjoying one wholly satisfying life
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f you press him on the matter, Paul Fulks would likely tell you that he prefers the picture below to the one on view some 27 pages earlier. You know the photograph to which we’re referring – the big one. The cover shot. That one’s nice, he would say. But the one on this page is important. For all the acclaim associated with the Gateway Monument – or any of the countless designs by Fulks and his 3Di Sign+Design company that welcome visitors to cultural hot spots Paul and Toni Fulks sit on and urban treasures the Gateway Monument that welcomes drivers on across the country – the I-30 to Arlington. photograph on this page reveals Fulks’ truest passion: his family. That’s why he’s genuinely smiling as he poses with his wife Toni while dozens of drivers heading east on I-30 glance with respect at his art piece that beckons them to Arlington. That’s why, as this story was coming together, the first thing he said he wanted to accomplish with its telling was to Photo: Richard Greene make sure it would leave someone else smiling: his grandmother Helen Saunders in Ironton, Ohio. Ironton is where Fulks got his start in life. It’s where many family members still reside. The son of a Baptist preacher dad (Joe) and a nurse mom (Shirley), Fulks learned early life lessons in morality, faith and compassion. They define him even now, some several decades after he took the leap off solid Ohio soil – right into the ocean. Even before he graduated college, Fulks decided to join the U.S. Navy, where he became a Nuclear Electrician Designated Submarine. That’s a nebulous service term for someone trained to protect his country in like fashion should a madman on the other side of the ideological map decide to bring nuclear harm to our side. His is a
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hero’s story, even if, technically, he never had to flex his hero muscles while on duty. Instead, he taught fellow sailors what to do in case of the unthinkable emergency. “I think my military background is what pushed me toward perfection,” he says, recalling one of many lessons he has learned over a variety of career paths, some that were downright fascinating. For example, after the Navy, Fulks moved to Waco, where he parlayed the chemical background he acquired in the service into a gig at M&M Mars – writing another chapter of unsung history in the process. Let the record show that it was Paul Fulks who mixed the first Strawberry/Banana Starburst candy. “I have to admit,” he says, “I’m kind of proud of that.” Eventually, science gave way to art, and Fulks moved north up I-35 to the city he now calls home to pursue a musical career. “I was dabbling in country music at the time,” he recalls. “I saw that there was a lot of great music coming from the Stockyards, so I tried my hand at singing and playing the guitar.” There was, however, a major drawback to that career choice, at least with regard to creating some more history. “I discovered,” he says, “that I was much better at a whole lot of things than I was at music.” One of those things was “making lemonade.” Despite a failed bid to become a C&W headliner, Fulks managed to land a position shaping the Stetsons of those who sing under the spotlight. He also shaped the caps for practically every Texas Rangers baseball player at the time not named Nolan Ryan – “Nolan had his own guy.” Next came a foray into the sign business, where he worked as a designer at a Richardson company for 13 years, the last few of
Signs of the times The artisanship and attention to detail that have made Paul Fulks’ 3di Sign+Design one of the country’s premier sign companies is evident all over the country. Here are samples of his work with Wyndham’s world-wide timeshare division, as well as with entertainment venues that sport distinctive looks that consistently turn heads.
which were marked by the economic crash of the late “20-aughts.” Fulks had an epiphany, professionally speaking. He had always possessed a knack for creatively reproducing what he saw. He also had learned through nature and nurture that hard work generally really does hold a reward. So he started his own sign company. One other thing he had mastered at a young age was a savvy business sense, and it told him that despite a general gloomy business climate, nobody in his profession seemed to be cornering the apartment community design market. So he conquered it. In fact, that company he started, 3Di Sign+Design, is now the largest in-house apartment sign company in the country, from design to installation. What is the key to that success? “We don’t ever do any two jobs the same way,” he says. “That’s what sets us apart. We want to do something that nobody else has done.” As a reward, Fulks and Co. have been tasked over the past decade to create signage for all manner of commercial endeavors, all over the map. “Our marketing is almost completely word of mouth,” he says. “We do very little advertising. But we’ve been fortunate to get to do designs pretty much across the country.” So, what’s his favorite spot? That would be Arlington, Texas, where he and Toni have raised two daughters, Olivia and Madison, and where he routinely gives back to a community that embraced him almost from the moment he hung his cleverly designed shingle at 1133 Main Street eight years ago. As a father, he became a member of the Pope Dad’s Club, one of the city’s first father volunteer programs, when Madison was in pre-K. He became a board member of the Arlington ISD Education Foundation, and served six years as president of Dance Theatre Arlington. Professionally, he has served on the Construction Board of Appeals of Arlington. And he takes special pride in his membership in the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, where he has served as a board member and where, as part of the membership committee, he
helped the organization pick up 220 new members in two and half days. On the civic front, Fulks is one of the original board members of the Levitt Pavilion and continues to compassionately bring free live music under the stars. This month, he is again in the spotlight as a member of the team bringing the Texas Regional Radio Music Awards Show back to Arlington, specifically to Arlington Music Hall on March 3. He has also served as a board member of the Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau, and he is a past president of Young Men for Arlington. He recently completed the paperwork to become a founding board member of the Independent Music Alliance. He cherishes his role as the co-chair of the first Chris Kyle Foundation Golf tournament, which was part of the city’s inaugural Veterans Day/Week celebration a few months ago. “That will happen again next year,” he promises. “I was visiting with someone at Southwest Bank not long ago, and all he could talk about was the 500 flags that were part of that celebration.” As a member of the Margarita Society, Fulks has helped raise donations and toys for needy children in the community, and to spice up the holiday season in his hometown, he designs the Christmas decorations the crowd sees as it gathers for the annual holiday parade and tree-lighting ceremony. When he’s not working and working for the greater good of the community, Fulks continues to pursue the one endeavor that didn’t turn out quite as he hoped. “I still play the guitar,” he says. “In fact, I have a lot of autographed guitars, so I guess you could say that’s a passion of mine.” Sometimes, when he’s endured a tough stretch at the office, the six-string becomes his therapy. “Toni says she always knows when I’ve had a stressful day, because I come in and go straight to the music room and start playing that guitar,” he says. Not that there are that many stressful days. “No,” he says, “I’ve been quite blessed. I have – and always have had – the pillars of faith and family. What more do you need than that?”
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