Accuracy In Art Usually Doesn't Matter

I was out vending and none of my enamel pins had name labels. A young couple walked by, and one of the two remarked on how cute the little "weed nugs" were (The Nug Heroes). The other immediately replied, "Well, you know cannabis doesn't actually look like that. No indica has those colors!"

I must admit I was a bit irked and thought about speaking up. "I don't remember ever seeing cannabis sporting tennis shoes or a cape, either!", I thought. Then I realized the art had already done its job. It is possible that a person who had never seen cannabis would have absolutely no idea what the hell the Nug Heroes were. But, even though cartoonish, and by all means not an accurate depiction of dried cannabis flower, within the context of the art style itself nearly anyone familiar with cannabis will know they are in fact, dried cannabis bud superheroes. 

I recently produced my first actual pin FLOP. I originally wanted Rizz Kitty to be a true Tuxedo Cat: black and white fur and I chose to use black nickel plating. I actually had a gut instinct that it might cause a problem, but figured without epoxy the raised metal would pop enough to clarify the design. I was, unfortunately, very wrong. I was so obsessed with true-to-life accuracy that I ruined the art. The facial details were completely lost. I changed some colors around, got some remakes, and even though the black on the cat is now warm gray? The first person I showed the new color way to said "Oh look a Tuxedo Cat!" I was so worried about making the cat black that I forgot clarity in design beats accuracy every friggin' time! 

These are two examples where accuracy in art matters less than design, but for totally different reasons. If the art style is adjacent to its real-world counterpart, but is confident in its style, then inaccuracy is not only often forgiven, but is often seen as more creative by the observer. Reality also can clash with GOOD DESIGN choices, and sometimes our assumptions about how to communicate an idea realistically gets in the way of successful communication about the idea itself.