Graphic design will save the world right after rock and roll does.
If you have no intuitive sense of design, then call yourself an "information architect" and only use Helvetica.
Just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates...
Invite the reader to participate by deciphering. Chaos can attract and engage.
For some reason I have a visual intuition that allows me to design things in an interesting way, and I don't know where that came from. Because I don't have this formal training, I seem to drift in a different direction.
It's not about knowing all the gimmicks and photo tricks. If you haven't got the eye, no program will give it to you.