I think you're confusing visual design and UX design. I agree that UX design is mostly about making things work. Visual design (fonts, color palettes, use of white space, emphasis, etc) is mostly arbitrary, touchy-feely stuff. Some people just intuitively know what 'looks good' and what will create that emotional connection with users. This is much different then somebody doing a wire frame with a title and a text box.
You're essentially calling the entire graphic design profession "mostly arbitrary, touchy-feely stuff". No, it's graphic design, not art. The visual design of something performs many functions and solves problems.
I take it you don't have any formal design education?
