The DIOMHAIR product is a result of a project at the Glasgow School of Art. Everyone in my course was given an object, me and three others were given the object 'mini shelf'. After doing some research on the object and looking at different variations of it, we took what we had found and used them to inspire us to make our own mini shelf. We started by exploring different ideas by making 20 different iterations in the span of a week. I used books to create shelves, combining them with wood, acrylic plastic, pencils and other materials to create shelves. 

Afterwards we started designing our own iterations. I decided to move away from books and chose to make a mini shelf with a hidden compartment instead. I knew I wanted to use wood as my material so after exploring different ideas through sketches I started exploring different openings and how to best conceal the secret compartment. To explore these initial ideas I used MDF. 

From my initial prototypes I decided go with the one that showed no openings in the front or on the side! My idea was to make the outside look like a solid wooden block. Using Tulip wood to create my final prototype. The concept idea was for the shelf to be purchasable in four different wood types, from tulip wood (light brown/beige colour) over red chestnut (reddish brown colour) to black wood. Giving the potential clients a variety of styles to choose from to find the one that is best suited for them. 

The title 'Diomhair' comes from the Gaelic word 'secret'. Combining the concept of a secret compartment and the language of the origin place Glasgow/Scotland. The concept also included the idea of the shelf being produced in Scotland using locally sourced wood.