Design for pencil set made from cremated human reamains

Here's product designer Nadine Jarvis' concept for a set of pencils made from the carbon of a cremated human body.

240 pencils can be made from an average body of ash - a lifetime supply of pencils for those left behind.
Each pencil is foil stamped with the name of the person. Only one pencil can be removed at a time, it is then sharpened back into the box causing the sharpenings to occupy the space of the used pencils. Over time the pencil box fills with sharpenings - a new ash, transforming it into an urn. The window acts as a timeline, showing you the amount of pencils left as time goes by.

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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boxlightbox

i love it and want it.
Art

I feel that the concept is both weirdly comic and grotesque.
- misterfricative
  
  Yup. Grotesque and comedic. Tasteful is not on the radar here. I mean, what? My loved one died and all I got was this lousy box of pencils?
  
  Also, how could the pencil box possibly manage to ensure that only one pencil is outside the box at any given time? And what happens if you lose the active pencil? If you ever wanted to write again, then you’d have to get in there and defeat the mechanism. Probably this would involve a screwdriver, a piece of bent wire, and a hammer…
  
  The tastefulness rapidly becomes overwhelming.
  
  Personally, I’d just as soon have my carbon content re-purposed into a monogrammed BBQ briquette.
Antinous / Moderator

I guess it’s too laete for me to fix it.
Tony Moore

i decided several years ago that having my ashes put into pencils is what i want done with my body. i will be forever spread in artwork and tedium, just as i lived.

that case is pretty, but i’d prefer to not be kept in an “urn” like that, when a coffee cup next to the rest of the writing utensils seems more fitting.

-T
jacob_ewing

Considering the rate at which I’m always loosing pencils, this would not be a good medium around me.

On the other hand, if the ashes are supposed to be spread…
Anonymous

Is this a good idea? Are human remains not toxic? It may also be illegal in many states and provinces, where there are strict limitations on where ashes may be distributed.
- Brainspore
  
  Is this a good idea? Are human remains not toxic?
  
  No more toxic than the remains of any other carbon-based lifeform, at least not once they’ve been through the crematorium.
  
  It may also be illegal in many states and provinces, where there are strict limitations on where ashes may be distributed.
  
  Technically yes, but in practice you can do pretty much anything with your loved ones’ ashes that you can with any other kind of ashes. It’s not like the police are going to go all CSI on you if you tell them you’re scattering the ashes from your fireplace.
  
  I hear that it’s a common occurrence for tourists to clandestinely scatter their loved ones at the Haunted Mansion ride at Disneyland. Of course that really means spending eternity in a vacuum cleaner bag as soon as the next cleaning shift comes through.
rosyatrandom

Ai reamain uncoanvinced
- jdixon
  
  I seacond that.
dw_funk

Is the entire pencil made out of human remains, or just the “lead” in the middle? If it’s the latter, it would make the writing much more important; you would have to constantly consider what would happen to the paper. And you’ll just end up, in the end, with a box of pencil shavings.

If you write in the right places, it turns into a very pretty way of spreading ashes. But I still think I want to be made into diamonds when I kick it.
russtolium

That’s a really clever design, and clever in more than one way which is rare! Now if you really want to make it hardcore, replace pencils with cigars.
teapot

Sign me up. I would buy this.
arkizzle / Moderator

That is surprisingly tasteful. I’m quite impressed with the whole idea, and the circularity of the shavings going back into the box is nice.
IWood

I am now considered all of the ways in which a fresh human body might be rendered for use in a fountain pen.
IWood

Then, when I have done considered, I shall commence to start considering.
jmchugh

While an interesting idea, this is not a feasible project. Modern cremation would be unsuitable for this purpose as the temperatures required by law (1400-2100 F) are sufficient to ensure oxidiation of all carbon into CO2. Modern cremains consist almost entirely of bone fragments.
Brainspore

I had a similar idea back when I heard about those companies making diamonds out of your loved ones but of course I didn’t have the initiative to do anything with it. I like the idea of a memorial portrait drawn with one’s own mortal remains.
andygates

That’s really sweet. And less legally confusing than a memorial cannibal bbq…
PDXgirl

I am undecided. It is definitely more tasteful than I thought it was going to be, but a part of me that absentmindedly chew on pencils finds it…..icky.