Ahhh

This is for those other designers out there. 

What do you do when someone wants something done (that you have to do - AKA boss), and their idea is really ugly?  Do you do what they want or do you try to make something out of it that you could be proud of?  What if you don't think there is a way to make the concept look like anything but an unprofessional amateur piece of crap?

First thing I tell to my clients is that they have to trust me regarding their site, as I know enough, and most of my fee is that knowledge which they wont use in case that they don't want to act as I tell them. I know this sounds very selfish, but it is true that 99% of the times that I don't agree with the client, the site is not good and I guess it is reasonable as I am the "web developer", right? :)

Of course many times clients want things that are really amateur. In that case I have to do what they ask, in order to show them why this thing is not good for their business.

Your description is a very general and vague but let me try ...

as long as your reputation as a professional (to what it is that you do) does not get hurt you don't have to fight it hard ... if you can't find a way to convince him otherwise then, go with what they say ... you chose to work for them ... if this becomes a routine then you find another job ...

A foolish client, you can fire; a foolish boss can fire you if you don't do what he/she says.

Make suggestions like "You know, if we just (make it sound like no extra work/effort) did this, it would really snap/be something special/or make xyz really stand out." or something similar where you are building on their idea rather than smashing it.

Unfortunately, we've all been there where we know the boss is wrong but have to do what they say anyway and most likely end up redoing it when they are proven wrong. It sucks, but it's better than it getting done your way and the boss telling everyone he doesn't like it - been there done that.

sounds like a case for The Graphic Avenger

I've had customers insist on using the comic sans font on their website and other really bad things. Sometimes they just can't be convinced and you will end up having to do a bad job. As long as the customer is happy and pays I guess there's no complaining. In cases like this I just make sure to leave the 'designed by' link out.

The awful thing is, some clients WILL NOT be swayed, regardless of youe conviction. I once worked for a company where my boss wanted to change his color scheme every week. He thought that since he drank coffee at Starbucks that he understood color. My contention was that in order to brand, you have to stick with a combination and really punch it out for a while in order to build recognizability. The whole ordeal ended with me presenting him with a branding book and other samples, and facts (ie: coca-cola need never show thier whole logo again, ever, and you will know it is a coke product) and he still wanted what he wanted. So some days it was orange, other days it was purple, still other days it was blue. I could not keep him in one spot. He was a great guy, and still is, but I ended up leaving, because I said to him, Look, I went to school for this, I have studied this my whole life, this is a passion for me, and I can't in good conscience keep doing this.
Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

true!

but some bosses just need someone to put their ideas (no matter how good or bad) into reality because they cant do it themselves.

"Why keep a dog and bark yourself?" -  A thread with nothing much to add.

so why drag it up? ;)

Just recalled this thread when I landed the worse experience related to this in a different way.

All examples point to our design taste and what we know and translate as our opinion and what we would suggest is the correct way. Although I always arrive with a compromise with a client, a new experience has bugged me this past few months, it is not about design but coding.

Have you encountered a client that want some kind of specific feature which you know you can do for them but they expect it to be as simple to work with as copy/paste? I mean developing a web app for them that works for what they want done in the aesthetic and function side but they want the admin side as simple as a click. We arrive at a misunderstanding since I told him he should at least learn basic html to get it to work for self-administration. But you know how it goes, they tell you you are screwing them and you end up losing the work, or simply quit...