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Summary of the article Graphic Design Fine Art or Social Science

Frascara presents the argument that graphic design is both fine art and social science. He points out that the basis of design is communication someone has to communicate something for someone else (p.20). In this I believe he is correct. Graphic art is distinguished from fine art by its commercial or function purpose. A message must be communicated to the target audience in order for the work to be effective. Graphic art is a marriage between form and function. He cites the Mir poster as an example of how the two can work together the design is striking but the poster is functional because it communicates its intended message. He provides several examples where graphic art is too highly focused on the artistic component and the message has become lost. For example, he juxtaposes Mir with Albers film festival poster. The physical distance Albers creates between the art and the message makes that poster ineffective, whereas in the Mir poster the art and the message are intertwined.
His point about the way graphic design is taught is valid. If the focus is strictly on the development of design aesthetic, then it is only art which is being taught.