diff --git a/src/Plots.jl b/src/Plots.jl
index ce643933..1e4858e7 100644
--- a/src/Plots.jl
+++ b/src/Plots.jl
@@ -36,6 +36,10 @@ export
   ohlc,
   ohlc!,
 
+  title!,
+  xlabel!,
+  ylabel!,
+
   savepng,
 
   backends,
@@ -86,12 +90,35 @@ ohlc(args...; kw...)       = plot(args...; kw...,  linetype = :ohlc)
 ohlc!(args...; kw...)      = plot!(args...; kw..., linetype = :ohlc)
 
 
+title!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(title = s)
+xlabel!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(xlabel = s)
+ylabel!(s::AbstractString) = plot!(ylabel = s)
+
+title!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; title = s)
+xlabel!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; xlabel = s)
+ylabel!(plt::Plot, s::AbstractString) = plot!(plt; ylabel = s)
+
+
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 savepng(args...; kw...) = savepng(currentPlot(), args...; kw...)
-savepng(plt::PlottingObject, args...; kw...) = savepng(plt.plotter, plt, args...; kw...)
-savepng(::PlottingPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString, args...) = error("unsupported")  # fallback so multiple dispatch doesn't get confused if it's missing
+savepng(plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString; kw...) = (io = open(fn); writemime(io, MIME"image/png", plt); close(io))
+# savepng(plt::PlottingObject, args...; kw...) = savepng(plt.plotter, plt, args...; kw...)
+# savepng(::PlottingPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString, args...) = error("unsupported")  # fallback so multiple dispatch doesn't get confused if it's missing
+
+# function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::Plot)
+
+
+# function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"text/html", plt::Plot)
+#   # print(io, "<p>")
+#   png = MIME("image/png")
+#   print(io, "<img src=\"data:image/png; base64,", base64encode(writemime, png), "\" />")
+# end
+
+
+# override the REPL display
+Base.display(::Base.REPL.REPLDisplay, ::MIME"text/plain", plt::PlottingObject) = display(PlotsDisplay(), plt)
 
 
 function __init__()
diff --git a/src/backends/gadfly.jl b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
index 46156778..8099597d 100644
--- a/src/backends/gadfly.jl
+++ b/src/backends/gadfly.jl
@@ -210,24 +210,52 @@ function plot!(::GadflyPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
   plt
 end
 
+
+function findGuideAndSet(plt::Plot, t::DataType, s::AbstractString)
+  for guide in plt.o.guides
+    if isa(guide, t)
+      guide.label = s
+    end
+  end
+end
+
+function updatePlotItems(::GadflyPackage, plt::Plot, d::Dict)
+  haskey(d, :title) && findGuideAndSet(plt, Gadfly.Guide.title, d[:title])
+  haskey(d, :xlabel) && findGuideAndSet(plt, Gadfly.Guide.xlabel, d[:xlabel])
+  haskey(d, :ylabel) && findGuideAndSet(plt, Gadfly.Guide.ylabel, d[:ylabel])
+end
+
 function setGadflyDisplaySize(w,h)
   Compose.set_default_graphic_size(w * Compose.px, h * Compose.px)
 end
 
-function Base.display(::GadflyPackage, plt::Plot)
+# function Base.display(::GadflyPackage, plt::Plot)
+# # function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME")
+#   setGadflyDisplaySize(plt.initargs[:size]...)
+#   display(plt.o)
+# end
+
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot{GadflyPackage})
   setGadflyDisplaySize(plt.initargs[:size]...)
   display(plt.o)
 end
 
 # -------------------------------
 
-function savepng(::GadflyPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString;
-                                    w = plt.initargs[:size][1] * Gadfly.px, # 6 * Gadfly.inch,
-                                    h = plt.initargs[:size][2] * Gadfly.px) # 4 * Gadfly.inch)
-  o = getGadflyContext(plt.plotter, plt)
-  Gadfly.draw(Gadfly.PNG(fn, w, h), o)
-end
+# function savepng(::GadflyPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString;
+#                                     w = plt.initargs[:size][1] * Gadfly.px, # 6 * Gadfly.inch,
+#                                     h = plt.initargs[:size][2] * Gadfly.px) # 4 * Gadfly.inch)
+#   o = getGadflyContext(plt.plotter, plt)
+#   Gadfly.draw(Gadfly.PNG(fn, w, h), o)
+# end
 
+function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::PlottingObject{GadflyPackage})
+                                    # w = plt.initargs[:size][1] * Gadfly.px, # 6 * Gadfly.inch,
+                                    # h = plt.initargs[:size][2] * Gadfly.px) # 4 * Gadfly.inch)
+  gplt = getGadflyContext(plt.plotter, plt)
+  setGadflyDisplaySize(plt.initargs[:size]...)
+  Gadfly.draw(Gadfly.PNG(io, Compose.default_graphic_width, Compose.default_graphic_height), gplt)
+end
 
 # -------------------------------
 
@@ -246,12 +274,12 @@ function buildGadflySubplotContext(subplt::Subplot)
 end
 
 # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
-function buildSubplotObject!(::GadflyPackage, subplt::Subplot)
+function buildSubplotObject!(subplt::Subplot{GadflyPackage})
   subplt.o = nothing
 end
 
 
-function Base.display(::GadflyPackage, subplt::Subplot)
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, subplt::Subplot{GadflyPackage})
   setGadflyDisplaySize(plt.initargs[:size]...)
   display(buildGadflySubplotContext(subplt))
 end
diff --git a/src/backends/immerse.jl b/src/backends/immerse.jl
index 7344a56b..1ff505d3 100644
--- a/src/backends/immerse.jl
+++ b/src/backends/immerse.jl
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ end
 # -------------------------------
 
 
-function buildSubplotObject!(::ImmersePackage, subplt::Subplot)
+function buildSubplotObject!(subplt::Subplot{ImmersePackage})
 
   # create the Gtk window with vertical box vsep
   d = subplt.initargs[1]
@@ -120,12 +120,6 @@ function buildSubplotObject!(::ImmersePackage, subplt::Subplot)
 end
 
 
-# # create the underlying object
-# function buildSubplotObject!(::ImmersePackage, subplt::Subplot)
-#   subplt.o = (nothing, nothing)
-# end
-
-
 function Base.display(::ImmersePackage, subplt::Subplot)
 
   # display the plots by creating a fresh Immerse.Figure object from the GtkCanvas and Gadfly.Plot
diff --git a/src/backends/pyplot.jl b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
index 60e768d2..8121039d 100644
--- a/src/backends/pyplot.jl
+++ b/src/backends/pyplot.jl
@@ -94,8 +94,7 @@ function getPyPlotFunction(plt::Plot, axis::Symbol, linetype::Symbol)
   # return linetype == :hist ? PyPlot.plt[:hist] : (linetype in (:sticks,:bar) ? PyPlot.bar : (linetype in (:heatmap,:hexbin) ? PyPlot.hexbin : PyPlot.plot))
 end
 
-function updateAxisColors(o, fgcolor)
-  ax = o[:axes][1]
+function updateAxisColors(ax, fgcolor)
   for loc in ("bottom", "top", "left", "right")
     ax[:spines][loc][:set_color](fgcolor)
   end
@@ -108,6 +107,8 @@ function updateAxisColors(o, fgcolor)
   ax[:title][:set_color](fgcolor)
 end
 
+makePlotCurrent(plt::Plot) = PyPlot.figure(plt.o[1].o[:number])
+
 # ------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 # TODO:
@@ -125,13 +126,10 @@ function plot(pkg::PyPlotPackage; kw...)
   d = Dict(kw)
   w,h = map(px2inch, d[:size])
   bgcolor = getPyPlotColor(d[:background_color])
-  o = PyPlot.figure(; figsize = (w,h), facecolor = bgcolor, dpi = 96)
+  fig = PyPlot.figure(; figsize = (w,h), facecolor = bgcolor, dpi = 96)
 
-  PyPlot.title(d[:title])
-  PyPlot.xlabel(d[:xlabel])
-  PyPlot.ylabel(d[:ylabel])
-
-  plt = Plot(o, pkg, 0, d, Dict[])
+  num = fig.o[:number]
+  plt = Plot((fig, num), pkg, 0, d, Dict[])
   plt
 end
 
@@ -139,6 +137,10 @@ end
 function plot!(pkg::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
   d = Dict(kw)
 
+  fig, num = plt.o
+  # PyPlot.figure(num)  # makes this current
+  makePlotCurrent(plt)
+
   if !(d[:linetype] in supportedTypes(pkg))
     error("linetype $(d[:linetype]) is unsupported in PyPlot.  Choose from: $(supportedTypes(pkg))")
   end
@@ -207,13 +209,21 @@ function plot!(pkg::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
     d[:serieshandle] = plotfunc(d[:x], d[:y]; extraargs...)[1]
   end
 
-  # this sets the bg color inside the grid (plt.o.o == matplotlib.Figure)
-  plt.o.o[:axes][1][:set_axis_bgcolor](getPyPlotColor(plt.initargs[:background_color]))
+  # this sets the bg color inside the grid
+  fig.o[:axes][1][:set_axis_bgcolor](getPyPlotColor(plt.initargs[:background_color]))
 
   push!(plt.seriesargs, d)
   plt
 end
 
+
+function updatePlotItems(::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot, d::Dict)
+  makePlotCurrent(plt)
+  haskey(d, :title) && PyPlot.title(d[:title])
+  haskey(d, :xlabel) && PyPlot.xlabel(d[:xlabel])
+  haskey(d, :ylabel) && PyPlot.ylabel(d[:ylabel])
+end
+
 function addPyPlotLegend(plt::Plot)
   # add a legend?
   # try
@@ -230,40 +240,34 @@ function addPyPlotLegend(plt::Plot)
 end
 
 function Base.display(::PyPlotPackage, plt::Plot)
+  fig, num = plt.o
+  # PyPlot.figure(num)  # makes this current
+  makePlotCurrent(plt)
   addPyPlotLegend(plt)
-  updateAxisColors(plt.o.o, getPyPlotColor(plt.initargs[:foreground_color]))
-  display(plt.o)
+  ax = fig.o[:axes][1]
+  updateAxisColors(ax, getPyPlotColor(plt.initargs[:foreground_color]))
+  display(fig)
 end
 
 # -------------------------------
 
 function savepng(::PyPlotPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString, args...)
+  fig, num = plt.o
   addPyPlotLegend(plt)
   f = open(fn, "w")
-  writemime(f, "image/png", plt.o)
+  writemime(f, "image/png", fig)
   close(f)
 end
 
 # -------------------------------
 
 # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
-function buildSubplotObject!(::PyPlotPackage, subplt::Subplot)
-  # i = 0
-  # rows = []
-  # for rowcnt in subplt.layout.rowcounts
-  #   push!(rows, Qwt.hsplitter([plt.o for plt in subplt.plts[(1:rowcnt) + i]]...))
-  #   i += rowcnt
-  # end
-  # subplt.o = Qwt.vsplitter(rows...)
+function buildSubplotObject!(subplt::Subplot{PyPlotPackage})
   error("unsupported")
 end
 
 
 function Base.display(::PyPlotPackage, subplt::Subplot)
-  # for plt in subplt.plts
-  #   Qwt.refresh(plt.o)
-  # end
-  # Qwt.showwidget(subplt.o)
   display(subplt.o)
 end
 
diff --git a/src/backends/qwt.jl b/src/backends/qwt.jl
index 1d51f7b9..a5f1649f 100644
--- a/src/backends/qwt.jl
+++ b/src/backends/qwt.jl
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ function plot!(::QwtPackage, plt::Plot; kw...)
   plt
 end
 
+function updatePlotItems(::QwtPackage, plt::Plot, d::Dict)
+  haskey(d, :title) && Qwt.title(plt.o, d[:title])
+  haskey(d, :xlabel) && Qwt.xlabel(plt.o, d[:xlabel])
+  haskey(d, :ylabel) && Qwt.ylabel(plt.o, d[:ylabel])
+end
+
 function Base.display(::QwtPackage, plt::Plot)
   Qwt.refresh(plt.o)
   Qwt.showwidget(plt.o)
@@ -69,7 +75,7 @@ savepng(::QwtPackage, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString, args...) = Qwt.sa
 # -------------------------------
 
 # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
-function buildSubplotObject!(::QwtPackage, subplt::Subplot)
+function buildSubplotObject!(subplt::Subplot{QwtPackage})
   i = 0
   rows = []
   for rowcnt in subplt.layout.rowcounts
diff --git a/src/backends/template.jl b/src/backends/template.jl
index 4f4d61fd..794ac94c 100644
--- a/src/backends/template.jl
+++ b/src/backends/template.jl
@@ -35,24 +35,42 @@ function plot!(::[PkgName]Package, plt::Plot; kw...)
 end
 
 
-function Base.display(::[PkgName]Package, plt::Plot)
+# TODO: override this to update plot items (title, xlabel, etc) after creation
+function updatePlotItems(plt::Plot{[PkgName]Package}, d::Dict)
+end
+
+
+# function Base.display(::[PkgName]Package, plt::Plot)
+#   # TODO: display/show the plot
+# end
+
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Plot{[PkgName]Package})
   # TODO: display/show the plot
 end
 
+
 # -------------------------------
 
-function savepng(::[PkgName]Package, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString; kw...)
-  # TODO: save a PNG of the underlying plot/subplot object
+# function savepng(::[PkgName]Package, plt::PlottingObject, fn::AbstractString; kw...)
+#   # TODO: save a PNG of the underlying plot/subplot object
+# end
+
+
+function Base.writemime(io::IO, ::MIME"image/png", plt::PlottingObject{[PkgName]Package})
+  # TODO: write a png to io
 end
 
-
 # -------------------------------
 
-function buildSubplotObject!(::[PkgName]Package, subplt::Subplot)
+function buildSubplotObject!(subplt::Subplot{[PkgName]Package})
   # TODO: build the underlying Subplot object.  this is where you might layout the panes within a GUI window, for example
 end
 
 
-function Base.display(::[PkgName]Package, subplt::Subplot)
-  # TODO: display/show the Subplot object
+# function Base.display(::[PkgName]Package, subplt::Subplot)
+#   # TODO: display/show the Subplot object
+# end
+
+function Base.display(::PlotsDisplay, plt::Subplot{[PkgName]Package})
+  # TODO: display/show the subplot
 end
diff --git a/src/plot.jl b/src/plot.jl
index d3c4996f..07e7c6c2 100644
--- a/src/plot.jl
+++ b/src/plot.jl
@@ -93,6 +93,7 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
     plot!(plt.plotter, plt; d...)
   end
 
+  updatePlotItems(plt.plotter, plt, d)
   currentPlot!(plt)
 
   # NOTE: lets ignore the show param and effectively use the semicolon at the end of the REPL statement
@@ -104,10 +105,10 @@ function plot!(plt::Plot, args...; kw...)
   plt
 end
 
-# show/update the plot
-function Base.display(plt::PlottingObject)
-  display(plt.plotter, plt)
-end
+# # show/update the plot
+# function Base.display(plt::PlottingObject)
+#   display(plt.plotter, plt)
+# end
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/plotter.jl b/src/plotter.jl
index e86b2037..dcf97b7e 100644
--- a/src/plotter.jl
+++ b/src/plotter.jl
@@ -13,11 +13,12 @@ include("backends/winston.jl")
 
 plot(pkg::PlottingPackage; kw...) = error("plot($pkg; kw...) is not implemented")
 plot!(pkg::PlottingPackage, plt::Plot; kw...) = error("plot!($pkg, plt; kw...) is not implemented")
-Base.display(pkg::PlottingPackage, plt::Plot) = error("display($pkg, plt) is not implemented")
+updatePlotItems(pkg::PlottingPackage, plt::Plot, d::Dict) = error("updatePlotItems($pkg, plt, d) is not implemented")
+# Base.display(pkg::PlottingPackage, plt::Plot) = error("display($pkg, plt) is not implemented")
 
 subplot(pkg::PlottingPackage; kw...) = error("subplot($pkg; kw...) is not implemented")
 subplot!(pkg::PlottingPackage, subplt::Subplot; kw...) = error("subplot!($pkg, subplt; kw...) is not implemented")
-Base.display(pkg::PlottingPackage, subplt::Subplot) = error("display($pkg, subplt) is not implemented")
+# Base.display(pkg::PlottingPackage, subplt::Subplot) = error("display($pkg, subplt) is not implemented")
 
 # ---------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/src/subplot.jl b/src/subplot.jl
index ca9591c8..8876a5fe 100644
--- a/src/subplot.jl
+++ b/src/subplot.jl
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ function subplot!(subplt::Subplot, args...; kw...)
 
   # create the underlying object (each backend will do this differently)
   if !subplt.initialized
-    buildSubplotObject!(subplt.plotter, subplt)
+    buildSubplotObject!(subplt)
     subplt.initialized = true
   end
 
diff --git a/src/types.jl b/src/types.jl
index ef085251..68002ab4 100644
--- a/src/types.jl
+++ b/src/types.jl
@@ -2,12 +2,14 @@
 typealias AVec AbstractVector
 typealias AMat AbstractMatrix
 
-abstract PlottingObject
+immutable PlotsDisplay <: Display end
+  
 abstract PlottingPackage
+abstract PlottingObject{T<:PlottingPackage}
 
-type Plot <: PlottingObject
+type Plot{T<:PlottingPackage} <: PlottingObject{T}
   o  # the underlying object
-  plotter::PlottingPackage
+  plotter::T
   n::Int  # number of series
 
   # store these just in case
@@ -22,10 +24,10 @@ type SubplotLayout
 end
 
 
-type Subplot <: PlottingObject
+type Subplot{T<:PlottingPackage} <: PlottingObject{T}
   o                           # the underlying object
   plts::Vector{Plot}          # the individual plots
-  plotter::PlottingPackage
+  plotter::T
   p::Int                      # number of plots
   n::Int                      # number of series
   layout::SubplotLayout