rocknbil - 2:55 pm on Dec 15, 2008 (gmt 0)

Okay, devil's advocate here. I'm a "designer" as well, but tender my thoughts in these areas with something far more important.

Remember the prime objective: A site exists to solve visitor problems. Not make money, promote your business, or dazzle the visitor with your artistic talents, these are all outcomes of the prime objective.

So reassess these questions: does it solve his visitor's problems? Does it navigate well? Are there any areas that can improve the visitor experience besides presentation?

Don't let this bruise your ego: as "designers," we tend to have fragile ones. Many of us tend to place presentation on a far higher pedestal than it deserves, and see it as a personal affront that our visual considerations are taken lightly or tossed aside. We get defensive, or even, as you, consider disassociating ourselves with these sites based on presentation alone.

After you've had your designs slam dunked a few hundred times and your ego takes a thorough thrashing, it stops hurting and you can start to see the value in this thinking.

Want an example? Why does Craiglist work? Why does THIS site work? Both are completely or nearly devoid of graphics. How is that possible? :-)

In reality, this will free you. I have done probably thousands of sites. Many of them I consider ugly as sin. Many were developed before the year 2K, and in spite of suggestions, the clients refuse to change them. They function well and fear anything that might break whatever formula makes that work.

If you really can't get past this, address the above questions and others that deal with issues beyond presentation. Go at it in terms of functionality, changing monitor resolutions, address the issues outside of "design" that might prompt a rework.