[cvuls]

a main tenet of graphic design is sacrificing your art for functionality. i'm not sure what designers you've been speaking to, but i doubt they're professionals.

[userbinator]

I think the difference is between "professionals" as in "gets paid doing this stuff", and as in "actually knows what they're doing".

As evidenced by the discussion here, there seems to be far more of the former than the latter.

[oauea]

That is still the wrong way to look at it. Functionality comes first, then you can make that look pretty. There should be no art in your UI.