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Welcome to Behind the Designs, where we\u2019ll be featuring the people behind the awesome designs you see in the gallery and introduce you to other designers who are turning their ideas into reality with Fusion 360.\u00a0 To start the series, we\u2019re going to introduce you to Gus Petrikas \u2013 he\u2019s the guy that designed the watch<\/a> that\u2019s on the Fusion site, the cool concept bike<\/a>, and most recently the modern-day turn table<\/a>.\u00a0 Read on\u2026<\/p>\n Fusion 360: Tell us about yourself:<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cMy name is Gus – my full name is Mindaugas, but nobody can pronounce that, so I go by Gus! At the moment, I work at a bicycle shop, providing people with the joy of riding and when I\u2019m available \u2013 me and my colleague created a company,\u00a0<\/em>Surfake<\/a>, that does 3D renderings, modeling, 3D scanning<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: How did your new company,\u00a0Surfake<\/a>, come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a funny story! Me and my colleague, Martin, have been buddies for almost 10 years now. We studied in the same University and then both moved to London. We\u2019ve always been competitive. He was using Maya, and I was using 3DS Max. One day we were having coffee, and thought, \u201cWhy don\u2019t we combine our forces into something cool? Our hobbies are modeling and designing, so we thought we should get some money out of it. We started thinking about our company and what it should be, then in December we created a website, registered it in the UK, and here we are!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: Have you been able to quit your day job yet and work 100% on your business?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI still keep my day job, so I still have to build bicycles for people, but it\u2019s okay because I love bicycles. We\u2019ve been really busy, but I don\u2019t quite have the courage to quit my day job completely. We do get a lot of orders, but we\u2019re trying to postpone them as much as possible. I could do it all right now, and we\u2019d be busy for 3 months, but I don\u2019t know what would happen after those 3 months. We\u2019re playing it safe at this point\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: What tips would you give to someone who\u2019s looking to turn his or her hobby into a business?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cFirst of all, don\u2019t rush! Take it easy. Take it slowly. What we did was run our website, and we didn\u2019t put any thought into it. After a few months, it started crashing, and all of the problems started to appear. We didn\u2019t have time to fix it, as we were so busy with the orders that were coming in. Do it slowly, because if you\u2019re in a rush, nothing works and everything starts to fall apart, and then it\u2019s just one big headache!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNext, is that I think every single person that starts a business needs to know that you\u2019re going to have to sacrifice your sleep. I haven\u2019t been able to sleep much the past few months. It\u2019s just how it is. Be prepared\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: Who is your favorite designer or teacher?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201cDieter Rams, is absolutely God to me. I\u2019ve been reading his biography and learning from his designs, \u00a0trying to absorb as much information as possible about him, how he works, and what his influences are. Without him ever knowing that I\u2019m his student, he\u2019s my mentor that I look up to. I just need to Google his name and see his designs, and that absolutely inspires me to create something of my own.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360:\u00a0 When designing, what\u2019s the one thing you cannot live without?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI can\u2019t live without music \u2013 I\u2019m an absolute addict. My favorite artist is\u00a0<\/em>Bonobo<\/a>, who is quite popular in the UK. It\u2019s just beautiful music that keeps you going without any distraction at all. It keeps me going all night long\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAnd biscuits. I need to have music and biscuits. It might sound silly, but it\u2019s really hard for me to work without munching on something, especially when I\u2019m working long nights, I just have to have some biscuits and some milk and tea to keep me awake!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: How will you define success for yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThat is a really difficult one. I will feel successful when someone on the street sees me and comes right next to me and pats me on the back saying, \u201cYou did a really great job on that. Congratulations!\u201d It might sound cheesy, but that\u2019s what keeps me going.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360:\u00a0 When do you know when a design is done?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cTo be honest, never. I always find minor details that I want to tweak. I don\u2019t think any of my designs are ready to go. It\u2019s really hard to be fully satisfied with your design. Everything around me gives me feedback and input. I\u2019m always re-thinking everything.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Fusion 360: What tips would you give others using Fusion?<\/strong><\/p>\n Gus:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to experiment with shapes. Even if you don\u2019t have an idea, just turn on Fusion 360 and start playing with the shapes. Start dragging edges, adding sharp corners, and creasing edges. That might inspire you to use that shape, or even create something useful in the real world – anything from a bike saddle to a phone.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n [Left to right] The Hook<\/a> and Modernique<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Gus Petrikas<\/a>. See more in\u00a0the Fusion Gallery<\/a>. Got a question for Gus? Reach out to him on Twitter:\u00a0@MPetrikas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n If you would like to be featured in a Behind the Designs Q&A, email shannon.mcgarry@autodesk.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong> <\/P> Meet Gus Petrikas. By day, bicycle builder and by night, designer and new company owner. Gus talks about startups, design mentors, biscuits, music and more in our first edition of Behind The Designs. <\/P> <\/STRONG><\/P> <\/P><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":54,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fusion","dhig-theme--light"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n<\/p>\n
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