For Aurora barber, hair designs are a cut above

Going to the barber shop together every other week has become a summer ritual for Alex Varela and his 6-year-old son Luis Angel.

Far from being an old school affair, father and son emerge from the chair of barber Ferran Huerta at The Line Up in Aurora sporting head-turning hair graphics that resemble tribal images.

"I always get positive reactions," says Varela, who works in a warehouse. "People always ask me where I got it done."

Because Luis Angel attends a Catholic school with strict rules about appearance, hair graphics are off-limits during the school year, his father said.

Hair graphics are all about wearing them the right way, says Huerta, 24, who has been renting a chair at The Line Up since 2005.

"You gotta have the right swagger to pull it off, the attitude, the demeanor, the way you walk," he says.

A graduate of West Aurora High School, Huerta started experimenting with hair graphics as a teenager living in Chicago. His goal is to own his own barber shop and create his own hair product line, says Huerta, who has taken art and business classes at Waubonsee Community College.

Huerta uses a hair trimmer to create the designs, and a straight razor to polish them. Designs look best on dark hair because the contrast with the skin is more marked, he says.

"Hair graphics are like art, there are no rules," he says. "Who says you have to do the same thing?"

His clients range from high schoolers to adults in their early 30s. Most are men, but some are women who get designs at the nape that can be easily hidden under long hair, he says.

Most of Huerta's clients are regulars who show up every seven to 10 days, while others get hair graphics for special occasions like birthdays, or simply for a special night out at the club. Fridays are his busiest days, he says.

Huerta charges $15 for haircuts for adults, and $12 for children, plus the cost of the hair design, which can range anywhere from $5 to $50 for more complex designs like a name, a favorite athlete's jersey number, or an action figure like Transformers.

Before getting hair graphics, customers should carefully consider different situations and people's potential reactions, says customer Ismael Rodriguez, of Oswego.

"It does change the way you are perceived, you look more urban," says Rodriguez, who avoids sporting hair graphics when he has to present himself in a professional manner.

For example, last year he applied for a small business loan and made sure his design had grown out. "I did it as a precaution," he says. "Why risk the chance of being turned down because they think something negative of you?"

Sometimes, people can misinterpret the meaning of the designs, says Varela, who once was denied entrance at a Chicago nightclub because the bouncer mistakenly thought the design was a gang-related. "The manager showed up and finally they let me in," he said.

In the end, hair graphics are a good way to do something different without committing to a permanent change, Huerta says.

"You just have fun for a couple of days and think outside the box," he says. "It's a way to express yourself."

The Line Up barber shop is at 227 E. Galena Blvd. in Aurora. For appointments call (630) 801-1900.