I just wrote a book (released yesterday!), Effective Visualization, that takes almost the opposite approach. Follow well-known patterns and know your audience. That should guide you to telling a good story.
It can look pretty, but making it art for the sake of art probably won't resonate with your audience.
That's been my experience after I've trained and consulted with some of the biggest companies in the world.
So I'm not sure if you read my piece or just wanted to drop a promotion, but I think you're misrepresenting my view here. I'm not advocating for "art for the sake of art" and I certainly don't think you should not know your audience.
My main point is that I don't think all of data viz is as simple as you're implying here, i.e. that a pretty chart probably won't "resonate" or that a chart from the Tufte school of thought automatically will.
I guess I disagree with this sentiment "Beyond that, I think there is a lot of room for creativity."
My experience is that most folks creating visualizations don't need or want the capability to have freedom. They want guidelines to help them communicate well.
It can look pretty, but making it art for the sake of art probably won't resonate with your audience.
That's been my experience after I've trained and consulted with some of the biggest companies in the world.
https://store.metasnake.com/effective-viz