An AI-native DIY ecosystem that helps you turn household trash into creative projects
Solo, Design and App Developer
Digital Product Design + AI Prototyping.
ScrapLab AI: Making it easy to start making.
Starting a craft project is often harder than it sounds. You have the urge to make something, but not quite the right materials, so the idea gets shelved. The cereal boxes and tin cans sit there until recycling day. ScrapLab works the other way around. Tell it what you've got, and it finds you a real project something useful and engaging to build, something you can start today.
Scrap is full of underutilised potential, but the joy of making things is fading. As childhood becomes more passive and attention spans shrink, we’re losing the habit of actually building things.
How it Works
- Inventory your scraps: Snap a photo or list your items. The AI identifies the potential in your specific materials.
- Visualize the goal: Get a high-fidelity preview of the finished object before you pick up a tool.
- Generate booklets: Create custom-styled instruction guides for any project you save.
- Explore inspiration: Access curated links to see how the global community has repurposed similar materials.
- Any device: A responsive UI built for desktop planning or mobile use at the workbench
The Struggle: Why don't we make more?
Starting a new project is often inconvenient. The process can feel messy, time-consuming, and intimidating if you don't feel you have the right skills. Most of the time, the hurdle is a lack of materials; you have an idea, but you realize you’re missing a specific component or tool. This often leads to projects being abandoned before they start, with perfectly good materials ending up in the recycling bin because there wasn't a clear starting point.
The Junk Pile:
We save empty boxes and jars thinking, "I'll use this someday," but we never do because we don't have a plan.
Creative Block:
It’s hard to look at a cereal box and see anything other than a cereal box.
The Cycle of giving up
we get frustrated and give up. Once you're done waiting for that spark to hit, you also lose the material it usually ends up in the bin because it’s just taking up space
Who is it for?
Designed to be used by anyone who likes making things.
Parents & Kids:
A way to build something together on a Tuesday night without needing a fancy kit.
Adults:
For people who want to unwind by making something physical.
Schools on a Budget:
Many schools can't afford expensive Kits. ScrapLab turns their recycling bin into a free Maker Kit.
AI Assisted Design and Development
Building ScrapLab.AI was an exercise in AI-assisted design and development. I wanted the digital environment to feel as tactile as the physical making process. I started with an Expo Go prototype, but moved to VS Code and Claude Code to build a more robust system using Gemini for the generative logic.
A major focus was the UI's "maker mood”. I used AI to regenerate specific interface elements like the cutting mat backgrounds, polaroid-style loading sequences, and industrial textures to ensure the app felt like a physical workshop. Even the instruction booklets feature border patterns that pull colors from the initial image you provided. It taught me that AI is most effective when it removes the "blank page" problem, leaving the human free to focus on the actual joy of the build.
Explore other Projects:
✿ Word Build ➚ Board Game Design
✦ Pitchwolf.Ai ➚ Sports Analysis App
❖ Understanding Pet Travel ➚ UX Research
✿ Stack n Pull ➚ Wooden Pull-Along Toy
◈ Trive ➚ Textile Product