The early plastic called celluloid was made of nitrocellulose and camphor. It made for spectacular pictures. It also made for spectacular fires.

Inspired by the Bauhaus and WPA posters, the midcentury designer all but invented the modern record-album cover.

During WWI, artist and British naval officer Norman Wilkinson came up with an idea so crazy it just may have worked: Dazzle Camouflage.

We need a visual literacy to help us negotiate new ways of seeing, but also new ways of accessing, manipulating, and reusing visual content.