There are all sorts of ways to measure properties of different models … size, points, number of steps in the diagram.
A metric of which I am fond looks at the prevalence of a model, either the total number that have ever been folded, or the total number of people who have ever made the model. These are hard numbers to come by, to be sure, but, I am only really interested in the order of magnitude of this number. So, I take the log-10 to get what I call the M-number. Any one-of-a-kind deal has M=0. If everyone on the earth makes a particular model, we have M = 9. I estimate that maybe 100 million traditional cranes have been folded, by maybe 10 million people, so we have M_crane = 7 and M_fold_crane=8 The vast majority of the models I fold have M between 0 and 1, but some, like Fujimoto’s concentric tessellations, have M around 2-3? Some Yoshizawa models range from 3-4? Every random crumple is unique ... hence M=0, but they are all the same, aren't they, so M = 9?? Best, Galen Pickett https://www.etsy.com/shop/GeometricOrigami
