Artist's (mis)conception

[vakkotaur]

I remember reading stories or articles about new or futuristic things. On the cover of a book or magazine, or at the top of the article, would be some artwork supposedly showing what something would look like.

The problem was that I'd read the text and then look at the picture again. Many times the text described something other than what the picture was. Maybe the text would mention how a spacecraft that was built outside any atmosphere and was never to enter one wouldn't be concerned with aerodynamics. Yet there was the "Artist's conception," as the caption told it, of a sleek aerodynamic ship.

At the time I wondered how the artist could manage to get things so wrong. Then I figured maybe the artist simply drew whatever he felt like drawing. Now, I figure it's a bit different. Chances are the artist was told "We need a spaceship for this" with no detail. Or, perhaps, someone told the artist what they thought a spaceship should look like, without reading (or caring) about what the text said.

Simply, the artist was probably not given the specification needed, or was given the wrong specifications. I understand this far better than I really want to. Many times I've finished something, or so I thought, only to hear "Why doesn't it do X?" Well, X was something that was never specified. I'd say I'm not a mind reader, but in some cases I doubt it would help any if I were. Nobody can read anything from an empty book.