The client is paying the designer for their expertise. If they don't want their moneys worth, than they should probably pick up a book and learn it themselves, simple as that.

I have more than once put out work that I refuse to have in my portfolio simply because I did what they want and knuckled under to what I knew was best for them. I don't do it anymore, and I'm making more money per job now, and my clients trust me.

The bottom line is the guy isn't an idiot. He sounds like one of us, and I can relate to it. There will always be times when a client pays you to do something you don't want to do, but that doesn't mean we can't have a good laugh at it privately amongst our own community.