Unfortunately, putting looks before function may very well make a website unusable. I can think of only a couple of industries, where graphical elements may be abundant (but still with a usable site), such as model business, clothes, photographs, real estate, etc - where people need to look before they buy.

Other industries may as well use text instead of graphics in most cases and use only appropriate imagery, too.

If you take Google as an example, it is, indeed, a very good one. But, perhaps, not of what you intended to present.

First of all, Google was a search engine. It was the only thing it can do, but do it well. And people could only search on the website. So, the site was functional and extremely useful. The design followed function.

Cheers.

Thanks for stopping by.