but with that said I think everything is just a little too washed out in its current form.
Ahh hell no!
I absolutely adore lower contrast images. It makes it look more comfy and is easier on the eyes.
Beside, in reality most consumer phones/TVs/monitors have this shitty marketing extra contrast and sharpening always applied, that consumers never take out. As a result most work is viewed with more contrast anyways.
Two years ago I had to do multiple presentations on many film projectors. Each with its own bullshit contract pushing extra color setting. I ended up making 5 versions of the filmic material I presented, each with a lower gamma and desaturated colors then the other burned in to combat that bullshit.
This work is a welcome change to most high impact extra vivid color work in marketing work in general I see. And of course, the client may or may not see an extra contrast version on his monitor anyways.