What about a design that you can make yourself, but isn’t DIY? Normally with DIY you start from scratch and following a tutorial you built/create your own design or upcycle design. But there’s another possibility called ‘AYO‘, A(dd)Y(our)O(wn).

Finally you can add your own design

AYO is an upcycle design solution created by Ryan Frank. He’s a South African born furniture designer with studios in London and Barcelona. Ryan is one of the industries leading sustainability designers renown for his edgy furniture.

The AYO lighting range gives everyone the chance to be part designer, part manufacturer. Made from rebar and natural rubber, the lights are designed without lampshades to encourage the re-use and re-cycle of everyday objects from garden, house or street. For Roomservice Design Gallery Ryan fitted the lights with a series of iconic Spanish objects salvaged in the streets of Barcelona such as fruit crates, olive oil tins and pickle jars.
The great thing about AYO is that you buy a kit without the lampshade. You get everything else, the only thing you have to do is look for an object you’ve got lying around that you could add to the AYO lamp. And with drilling a few holes and attaching a few screws you’ve created your own AYO.

Photos © Ryan Frank


Ryan’s main concern is to create a sense of awareness of the amount of stuff we are producing and the amount we don’t really need.
This is such a great idea to let the design interact with the customer by integrating materials of their own. And after some time when you are looking for a new design, you just have to add a different object to AYO.

Design by Ryan Frank