Each of these optical illusions is a masterpiece of colorful design, with visual tricks to confound the mind and please the eye. Just don’t trust anything you see at first glance, because it’s impossible to judge spatial relations, or even the subject of a picture, accurately. In some cases, the colors themselves deceive the eye, making objects seem larger, smaller, faster, or even better looking than they really are. Hold onto your hats—two fancy stovepipe hats, that is: are they taller than they are wide, wider than they are tall, or the same dimensions? Or try climbing the wild set of stairs: they’ll have you going in circles and in squares. There’s plenty of beautifully intriguing fun on these pages.\n