In the graphic novel, What It Is by Lynda Barry, we learn about her life as a child, growing up ignored in a broken household. During this time she found solace in the cheery posters on her wall and in story books. The childlike faith she had in the realness of the stories she read had a profound influence on her as she grew up. Now, she writes her graphic novel as an explanation for the images that held such significance in her life and to get in touch with the childlike creativity she fears she has lost since becoming an adult.
Barry uses a type of formstroming to tell her story in this graphic novel. Formstorming, as defined by Ellen Lupton and Jennifer Cole Phillips in Graphic Design: The New Basics, is described as a process of “visual thinking” – a way for designers to find dynamic solutions to design problems they face. Formstorming creates space for a designer to think critically about multiple ways to solve a problem. Easier, more obvious solutions are found first, and then more creative, complex solutions are found through this process of repetition.
I see formstorming in Barry’s novel in the way chunks of her book is organized. She tells her story on pages of, what looks like, yellow notepad paper using words and watercolor paintings. This is seen on page ten. Then, the notepad pages become covered in thicker layers of paint and glued down material. This style can be seen on page twenty-two. These pages are less about storytelling and more about expressing what is going on in Barry’s mind in a visual way. These collage pages are more disorganized and more messy, the way our train of thought tends to be, or the way a child’s mind dreams. She alternates between these two page styles, telling her story and then showing the thought processes behind the story.
By designing her book this way, Barry solves the issue of how to both tell her story and show her story and her thinking processes. This unique solution is an example of formstorming.
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