...Garbage out.

If you take two slices of bread and put a turd between them you get a shit sandwich, not a cheesecake with a cherry on top. So it is with design. It's very important for the client to realise his or her obligations to the creative endeavour they embark upon when they employ a design agency to boost their image.

Your cameraphone pics ARE NOT acceptable for a professional website and no, that Helvetica text of your company's name that looks different on all 4 of the photocopied flyers your mate Dave made is NOT a logo. But the biggest sin is content. Content is king. Hell some agencies like Generic have a copywriter (yes, you're reading him now) but if a client is not forthcoming, or too lazy to help plan out and populate a site then it's never going to realise its potential.

And don't get me started on the ones who want a content management system to manage....nothing. You have to put the hours in too, people!