Formstorming is the aesthetics of visual intelligence. Its the strengths we use and the paths we must go through in order to generate, critique, reevaluate and finalize our pieces of art. When generating and designing a new piece of art its valued and suggested to first brainstorm within the mind before the computer to get the best authentic ideas.

Throughout most of the book, “What It Is” by Lynda Barry, Barry uses “go-to” like characters to help form her art such as small and big animal critters, aquatic creatures and ghost like monsters. She not only uses animal characters but also various miscellaneous items like stamps, food, clothing, etc. Barry expresses the use of formstorming many ways by implicating new and different elements and backgrounds in each an every page. Each page contains dialogue that is printed out in more than two different fonts giving the reader impressions of different tones or attitudes. It shows the value of expressing anything your own way, the way that talks to you but also speaks louder to others.

Page 41 of What It Is By Lynda Barry

Notice that on page 41, Barry draws a cat, monkey, octopus, fish and ghost-like character as the animals present. Throughout the page there is multiple boxes of dialogue with multiple font styles such as cursive, times new roman, bubble letters and more. See that there is no frame nor border equipped in the picture allowing the image to bleed on the page.

The benefits of engaging in formstorming are universal. When formstorming you can produce something that you never expected to develop and it might just stick to you in the long run. Formstorming is the gate way to conquering any barriers or doubts that we may have in our ability to draw or make “art” and can keep you open to trying something new.