Last month, I had a look at Web page body language and how the look of a Web page can send messages to the readers that the designer may or may not be aware of. The most important factors in any message, whether spoken, written or conveyed by purely visual means are just common sense, but still overlooked by many. I call them 'The Three Cs'. There is a movement afoot at the moment, especially in England, to use a graphic style that sublimates a message almost to the point of abstraction. Headlines are deliberately blurred or stressed and body copy is run together into blocks of virtually unreadable type.
Graphic style is synonymous with personality in general, real life situations.
There is nothing wrong with a strong personality, graphical or otherwise, but if the personality dominates the message, masks it or obliterates it, then the communication suffers. Failure to communicate is 'bad design' because design demands functionality as well as style. Hiding a message within a strong, stylistic design sends a signal to the recipient that something is amiss - 'there is a facade here that is hiding something', ' someone is going out of their way to hide the truth and it shows'. It's like someone who uses too much make-up or overdresses. A Web page that tries to impress with fancy footwork but can't deliver the KO punch is not doing its job.