I know the motto is “Form follows function” but really this just isn’t the way most clients think about it. I mean, we, as developers have to make the thing work. That is our number one priority.
The client, more often than not, wants it only to be pretty. They want it to be this color and have these design elements and what not and if there is any money left over, make it work.
For instance, I was bidding on a project and the guy seemed fairly intelligent. I asked him questions about what he wanted the application to do and what he expected from the project and he answered them well and completely. He then asked why I hadn’t asked him any questions regarding the design of the app. I told him that “form follows function” and tried to explain that the first step was just making the thing work. Making it pretty was the next step.
He then proceeded to tell me that you dont build a car like that; that they start with sketches of what it will look like. I then told him that I am not building a car; I’m building a web app, and that if he was going to use analogy’s that he should use the correct one. The discussion disolved from there and I ended up turning down the project because I (a) dont need the money that bad and (b) would rather not have to deal with a guy telling me how to do my job.
The problem with web design, or any design, is that it really doesn’t start from sketches. It starts with a list of objectives or features. A car designer has a set or directives before he gets started on the next coupe (i.e. more streamlined, compact, low clearance, etc.). Then, taking these things in mind, starts drawing.
I know that some people will say that a comp is the first step in a new site. Wrong, says I. What if the client comes back 2 days before the site is to go live (and you know they will) and says that they want to take out this or that bit of functionality. Not only do you have to change the application, but the design as well.
The first thing one should do, as the motto goes, is make it work first. After that is locked in, then hand the list of functions, button names, desired colors and what not to the designer. That way they have a solid foundation to work from without fear that the nice bar at the top wont eventually be cut out (an exaggeration, but not far off).
Point being, for those dealing with clients, tell them that you can’t build a skyscraper without a solid foundation. And if they keep pressing the ‘design’ aspects, tell them that it will cost them more their way. If they are fine with that, please send them this way (I have some credit card to pay off 
)
-Cheers