This Northwest Coast system of drawing or representing figures through formline design illustrates the importance of positive and negative space interacting with one another to create a coherent 2-dimensional image. As families are composed of members from opposite moieties, their crests are also composed of the complementarity of opposite design techniques, positive and negative space, created through the use of primary and secondary form lines. Together, the primary and secondary form lines create a continuous design and a complete image of a family crest. Primary form lines are painted in black and secondary form lines in red. As the primary color, black is used to form a "strong contoured line which structures the design and clarifies the anatomy of the subject by defining the head, wings, joints, tail, etc... (Stewart, 19). The secondary color, red, is used for secondary elements and noncontinuous parts, such as ears, teeth or inner mouth parts, and secondary faces. When drawing each individual line, its thickness and direction change and it tapers at the junctions of two design segments (Stewart, 18). The Haida bentwood box in this exhibit uses a distributive design in which the animal’s body parts are rearranged to fit into the given space. The animal depicted is a beaver, an important crest of the Haida.

The lineage house is a box that contains "the family." In addition, the center of the lineage house is called the "womb." A woman is associated with the creation of a family, through childbirth, and thus, is connected to the lineage house. Family is important to the NWC people, not only for the continuation of their society, but also because one’s lineage reflects an individual’s family history, wealth, and his or her current status within society (Gerber, 85-6). A family’s crest depicts their relation to an animal and equates the animal’s characteristics with those of the family. For example, a bear crest represents the bravery of a family. In addition, a lineage connects the family with specific ancestors from whom they descend.