If it's pretty, will they come?

pest, originally uploaded by deepwarren.

I have to write up a mini-speech/presentation for work justifying the use of 'pretty' stuff. Not useability, and not navigation. Just those pretty little icons and pictures and boxes you use on webpages to say Look at ME!

To be honest the nav and useablitity (for better and worse) are already built into the educational LMS we use. Althought we get to modify (a little) and create depth and layers in the site, we don't get to change the basics or build a new (faster, leaner, cleaner, meaner) way. You think it would be obvious, don't you? That pretty pictures make people look. That the webis not meant to be ultalitarian wasteland of text, text and more text with a few baldly presented icons on the page.

Hell, if it was, would porn be soooo popular. Like the campfire, it seems to have been invented to allow men to be able see more bottoms. *parphased from tv sitcom men behaving badly

Pixs, icons, design elements improve readability of the page. They draw attention to the key points of an article simply because they stick out. The trick is to make them look smooth.

So why, when I have a project with an academic do they start with this phrases:

i don't care what it looks like.. colours? .. fonts..*shrug
i have no interest in the design..
you just do what you like..

and yet.. woe betide you if you deliver a badly coloured messy or god help you, dull back in their lap.

*I used the banner/icon above was for a project that would not be seen by anyone but the academic. Relevance to the topic..null. However I knew the moment they looked at the site, cause they emailed back with a quip.