We can divide it into two rectangles: 7x8 and 10x(12-8), arriving at the solution of 7cm*8cm + 10cm*4cm = 56cm^2 + 40cm^2 = 96cm^2
We can also divide it into two rectangles: 12x7 + (12-8)x(10-7), arriving at 12cm*7cm + 4cm*3cm = 84cm^2 + 12cm^2 = 96cm^2
We could also divide it to one big rectangle and one "negative" rectangle of 10x12 and -8x(10-7), arriving at 10cm*12cm - 8cm*3cm = 120cm^2 - 24cm^2 = 96cm^2