The design elements he wants to see replace the web 2.0 look:

    * Retro-Vintage
    * Warm Dark Color Palette
    * Rich Textures
    * Grunge-Retro Fonts
    * Rough Edges
    * Ornaments
    * Stains
    * Rich Full Layered Headers

I can't stand most of these. And boucher is right, they're a lot harder to do anyway.

I think the designs that appeal to me are minimally dressed up stuff, like Hacker News and Socialmoth. And the appeal is not just the high data-ink percentage, but the fact that it doesn't take that much coding to achieve, and so is elegant conceptually as well as visually. It does take some thought and skill though, as my own forays into web-design have shown me.