Z adu was a collaborative commerce company that was part dynamic web-page annotation software, part instant messenger client, part online community, and part user-tracking and direct-marketing tool. The whole package had to be skinable and co-brandable - yet still remain Zadu regardless of color scheme, media, or delivery mechanism. In short, a unique product offering that often defied even the most verbose verbal explanations.

The solution took the form of a composite "plug and play" style guide based on a visual vocabulary and set of metaphors that could be applied like a script to any document, interface, or environment and still preserve the look-and-feel of zadu even under the weight of a dominant co-brand.