Design done well is fantastically useful, fantastically creative work.

It is an art, and you do not reward those who are good at it by copying not just their ideas but their actual works.

I agree, as a developer who does not have much talent for design, that it would be a 'better' world for me if I could just grab the html from places that do have that talent and not suffer for it.

It is hard in an area where you dont have much to offer, to accept that you do not have a right to take from those who do, but accepting that and learning to work within those constraints will make you both a better person and a better developer.