Invite the reader to participate by deciphering. Chaos can attract and engage.
Just because something is legible doesn't mean it communicates...
Don't confuse legibility with communication.
The station was tight, aggressive ... the deejays at times sounding as if they were broadcasting at gunpoint.
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.
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.