Cameron Moll has made the point over on A List Apart that good designers redesign, while great designers realign. While the differentiation between "redesign" and "realign" could be construed as mere semantics, the heart of his observation rings true: "The desire to redesign is aesthetic-driven, while the desire to realign is purpose-driven."
Design for its own sake typically leads to a rather depressing and ineffective dead-end. But design that is harnessed, heart and soul, to serving its part in the successful implementation of a larger universe of goals and priorities -- now, that can be a beautiful thing to behold.
I don't know whether or not to take offence at this.
I suppose it would have helped to have read the article. Great insights. He addresses the issues I typically struggle with insofar as I design something that looks nice then try to fit the content in. Typically ends up messy, cluttered, and not what I had hoped for. Time to "realign."