There are truffles, and then, there are truffles.

This week, on a flight back from Port Lincoln, I was reading an article in an in-flight magazine. I know, I should’ve been listening to an important podcast, reading the latest Moodle for Dummies release or just about anything else but it had been a long day. So there I was reading this magazine, and I came across an article on truffles. You know the ones, fungus, use a pig to find them, great in French cooking, cost a fortune. OK, so here’s the thing, when you read truffles, how many thought about the chocolate type? You know the ones, petit fours, champagne truffles, chocolatey goodness.

Whether writing an article, writing a blog post, or putting together a learning object, the use of images is a vital part which helps to convey the information to the reader. The right image in the right place can change the whole feel and even the meaning of the article or learning object. The wrong image can lead to confusion, or worse.

So what do truffles have to do with the use of images? The in-flight magazine article had a picture of the wrong type of truffle. Now I imagine, to a lot of folks, this error was not noticed and made little difference to them. I found it quite amusing and had to share it with the guy sitting next to me. He told someone else, and who knows how many others have done the same.

I’d love to hear any other stories or examples of this sort of slip up and what the repercussions were…