Abstract The art of abstraction reflects the rich imagination of human beings to a certain extent and is now widely used in movies, games, advertisements, and other modern design fields. In this paper, a new edge tangential flow algorithm applicable to image abstraction is proposed, which first estimates the gradient strength and gradient direction of each point in a given input image by using the Sobel operator and then establishes the edge graph of the input image by using the edge information transfer strategy. On this basis, the application and value of abstract art and this graphical abstract processing method in modern graphic design are discussed, and the essence of abstract form art is perfectly embodied so as to make the two perfectly integrated. The results show that in the application of graphic abstract processing in graphic design, the average value of user attraction, understanding, and memory dimension scores are 0.53, 0.675, and 0.683, respectively, which verifies the effectiveness of this graphic design practice through users.