your design certainly looks more "current" and "professional", which people will class as better.

but that's not the same as more understandable, which is something you can actually measure. for example, you can do random trials, showing people a flyer for a short length of time and then asking questions about it.

so you're obviously capable of making something that fits in with current taste. but you haven't proved that your version is more understandable.

if you want the cachet of a "scientific" justification for your design then you have to do the science. tacking on an assertion doesn't really cut it.