Emily,
One of the reasons that we started using MailChimp in Houston is because, compared to the program we were using before, MC makes it easier to create a better-looking 'campaign'. Rather than use one of their fancy templates, I modified a simple one for our use. Usually the only image is the group logo.
But if you want a plain text campaign, you can do that: https://mailchimp.com/help/create-a-plain-text-campaign/
- Keith Holmes