Mc2 I try to achieve a balance between aesthetics and functionality and I'd say I've done a decent job so far with a fair few of my ships, of course they're not going to always be as strong as a design focused purely on effectiveness but then there's some skill involved in trying to overcome a stronger opponent and ships with some minor downsides can add character making them more enjoyable and unique like your beast ships.
While ultimate death cubes and the U ships of no return are cool and all, I'd still take a less effective design any day if I think it looks good (unless its a competition, that's a different story)