Can you quantify creativity? Craighton Berman has translated that thorny question into a simple-yet-effective desktop accessory. Sharpener Jar is a 'to the point' way of measuring the intangible aspects of the creative process by collecting pencil shavings in a mason jar.

According to Berman, evidencing work is tricky for the creative professional: an entire day spent doodling, brainstorming and sketching may lead to no concrete end product. However a jar brimming with pencil shavings provides a yardstick (of sorts) for the effort expended during ideation. Thus the handsomely minimalist Sharpener Jar provides measurable creative data, and data visualisation, in one fell swoop.

Ok, so this is somwhat silly, and the absurdity of providing a metric to creativity is certainly not lost on Berman. Nevertheless the elegance of the design is easy to appreciate, and judging by the overwhelmingly positive response we're not the only ones to be taken by such a tasteful quantification of creativity: one that spins the limits of measurement into an aesthetic quality.