Graphic Design the New Basics walks us through style of conceptualization called “formstorming”. I would describe formstorming as repeatedly re-conceptualizing a familiar subject in numerous ways while retaining the functional integrity of the symbol. My favorite example of formstorming, shared in Graphic Design the New Basics, shows us several illustrative iterations of an egg. What formstorming allows us to do is get the most obvious and mundane versions of an idea out of the way, clearing a path for more creative design solutions. In Lynda Barry’s What It Is, Barry starts by exploring the fundamental nature of images and where they come from. Images have been employed by humans for as long as our species has had the cognitive ability to think abstractly — a really long time. Humans are symbol using animals, and this is the basis for much of human communication, especially so in the digital age. The mere ability we have to formstorm shows us that our ability to think abstractly, to communicate clearly and creatively, is boundless. Barry’s artwork in What It Is lends itself well to this boundlessness. By combining and layering stylistically distinct images, Barry is almost using a type of formstorming. We are able to visually see the depth and range of symbols, laid out on a single page.