Does Design Matter?

What’s going on with Design when the use of publishing platforms to create websites and blogs is so prevalent? I’m not just talking about sticking photos in here or there (Hart, in his response to a question of whether or not pictures make a blog more valuable, says on ProBlogger “Blogs or news feeds with pictures, on the other hand, seem to slow the pace down .. it’s more like .. next …next … next … (instead of nextnextnext)” see this thread.

I also wonder if there’s a general shift in attitude of what a web object should look like. Is the emphasis on content, in other words words, completely negating the need to make things pretty or friendly or edgy or cool or elegant? I’m using these adjectives tongue-in-cheek. I feel good design helps guide me through a site: it leads my eye through the space of a web object, cues me in as to which info is important. I would say aesthetics are a matter of taste, but taste matters. Especially in an era where we have so many options to choose from, design can be a marker for enjoyable content.

Now, I know not everyone is a web artist, and sometimes it’s a relief to not have to wait for the Flash to load. Believe me I think it’s great that there are these easy tools that enable anyone and everyone to have a blog and/or website. However, wouldn’t it be more interesting if there were also tools that encouraged more creativity in design than just changing the background color?