The Icon Engine by Ted Patrick is a great concept which I think can be used and extended in many different ways. This approach could be described as a “meta rendering engine”. I can see similar techniques exploited in Flash Lite projects or for instance in a UI prototype I am currently working on.

e.g. “;0×0,0xFFFFFF;1<1:2<1|2|1<1|2:2|1<1|2:3|1<1|2:4|1<1|2:5|1<
1|2:6|1<1|2:7|1<1|2:8|1<1|2:9|1<1|2:6|1:5<1|2:3|1|2:2|1<
1|2:2|1:2|2:2|1<1|2|1|0:2|1|2:2|1<1|1|0:3|1|2:2|1<1|0:5|1|2:2|1<
0:6|1|2:2|1<0:7|1|2:2|1<0:7|1|2:2|1<0:8|1:2″