Okay, we probably all know a great deal of this already, but it is always nice to have a quick and easy reference at hand. In the words of the author: “This website, which contains the material of the course VA312, taught at Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey; attempts to walk you through the long and diverse history of a particular aspect of human endeavour: The translation of ideas, stories and concepts that are largely textual and/or word based into a visual format, i.e. visual communication.” It is pretty well written, has a nice layout and good references and images. Link: The History of Visual Communication