I was going through some of the specs that a client sent to me today after we sent him back with the initial design as per his business requirements. When I got back feedback from the client it was all over the place including some specs design which if we had done would look completely a bizzare. The designer who worked on that initially was jumping on his seat and wondering about his experience in design industry.
Obviously there would a certian level of guidance on where the design should head . It would be unfair to the designer when it comes to potraying the design following the specs exactly.
It not only hampers the creativity of a deisnger but it also keeps the designers into a certain boundry which they wont come out in future.