Design / Practice
A starting point for the blank-canvas days. Formalist combines the elements and principles of graphic design into prompts, constraints, and exercises that give you something to work with.
Open toolform.lowres.com
Notes on the experiment
01 / The starting point
Formalist came out of getting stuck before the work had even begun. Sometimes the hardest part of designing is deciding where to start. This tool gives that first decision a nudge by breaking graphic design into its components: elements, principles, format, typography, color, and structure.
02 / In practice
Generate a brief and use the combination as a starting point. The constraints give you something specific to respond to, while leaving the creative decisions in your hands. Use it to warm up, practice an unfamiliar approach, or get moving when every possible direction feels equally blank.