But their tool kit has included a nearly unlimited choice of typefaces and gradient screens. A good designer can work wonders on a two-colour job using just those two tools. Let's take that skill and apply it to the Web. The situation is almost completely reversed. Colour is free, but there is no real choice of typefaces.
Gradients take up more space than solid colours.
The penalty is not in the direct cost to the client, but in the cost to the viewer in terms of time and money. The 'Eye Candy' theory Designers have been taught to use graphics to attract the eye of the viewer, especially on a magazine or newspaper page. That doesn't apply to the Web, since the viewer has already made the decision to visit the site before seeing the graphics. Slow-loading graphics will only give the viewer more time to decide to bail out and go somewhere else while waiting for the pictures to load. Our designer finds the world is turned upside down.