Only people who can handle the change will notice
Upon the release of the Silk Icon Set (a really smooth free icon set), Joen of Noscope noted that:
Although beautiful, the feed icon (Feed) lacks the bottom left dot that’s part of the now standardized feed icon. Does this bother anyone else? Does it even matter? Creative mandate, or style over usability?
When thinking about sacrificing some aesthetics to improve usability or just to adhere to unspoken standards, it’s good to remember this: In most cases, only people who can handle the change will notice.