I just believe they are making a mistake. I'm dealing with the boss's right hand, and she insist it's what he wants. She's provided me with images, and even the font and layout they want. There's not way I can make it appealing to anyone but them. Should I persist to try to convince them bad design will hurt business? And how do I do it tactfully?

Also, something I was thinking of as well, I know to myself, most of you, people in the entertainment industry, etc. Sleek, artsy, appealing design is of massive importance. I generally wont take a website seriously if it looks like crap. However, this business guy has shown me examples of his competitors, who have crappy sites in my opinion, as sites he'd like to model his design after.

So my question is... do people in small businesses find themselves more comfortable with a crappy looking business site than an artsy one?