Techniques we keep reaching for, with what they are actually for. Thin-film interference - colour from physics instead of palettes; iridescence that reads expensive because it obeys optics. Signed distance fields on type - warp, outline and melt letterforms without rasterising; the only way type survives heavy distortion. Halftone fields - one dot grid, infinite tonal range; the cheapest route to print-grade texture on screen. Dithered accumulation - long-exposure light trails in WebGL by refusing to clear the buffer; motion becomes photography. Ping-pong feedback - two buffers passing a frame back and forth; the engine behind every organic bloom and ink-bleed you have admired. None of these need a library. All of them need restraint.