Formstorming is a creative problem solving method conducted through “visual thinking”. The primary elements of formstorming are repetition and variation, such as different fonts or kinds of eggs. These examples include different styles and different forms of the same subject matter. The first chapter of Graphic Design The New Basics properly explores formstorming. It states that, as designers, we must strive for excellence in each part of our designs and that clear visual communication is key.

A lot of  pages of What It Is are collages and I think the page I chose represents formstorming very well: The first thing that catches my eye is the centered text that reads, “Thinking is a smelter”. There’s a dissonance in the font that is split between the beginning of the statement and the subject of that statement. The “a” is also placed unevenly between “Thinking” and “smelter”, which I believe was done to draw the viewer’s attention more towards the abstract visuals below. The collection of different images, fonts, patterns, and other visual elements such as different people, a squid, flowers, and so on add to the smelter analogy. A lot of different messages in the text also reinforce this: “Can images exist without thinking?” with “Do” and “Would” placed above and below “Can” to add to the message of the central question. There is also a stamp of Abraham Lincoln placed above the questions, “Who is this?” and “How do you know?”. Below those questions are two options, “By image?” and “By thinking?”.The text ironically helps frame the central message of the page and frames it. The author used formstorming to create this collection, choose every element down to the last detail, and express something visually through a work where everything has purpose.

(Lynda Barry, What It Is, 2008, pg 68)