Oh, and as for the B/W photography analogies, I will have to respectfully disagree...
While in film school, my design theory professor spoke about photography. He felt, and I agree, that a great photographer making a great photograph can do so in B/W. As the skill set goes down, the photographer could make the image in color. If that doesn't help, then they could consider adding a large mat to the image. If that doesn't work, they could add a fancy frame. And if that doesn't work, make it big...
While in film school, my design theory professor spoke about photography. He felt, and I agree, that a great photographer making a great photograph can do so in B/W. As the skill set goes down, the photographer could make the image in color. If that doesn't help, then they could consider adding a large mat to the image. If that doesn't work, they could add a fancy frame. And if that doesn't work, make it big...