Dave Mykins Midterm Question

Would you say that it's necessarily a bad thing that I didn't "strictly" follow the assignment on the 4 elements project, or is it more important that I pursued the project with my own interests in mind? Also does the fact that it sort of looks like an elephant take away an element of seriousness from my work and make it seem tacky? I feel like it almost looks TOO much like an elephant. 

Also, someone told me it looked phallic... this isn't something I want it to convey.