A method and media engine for rendering a graphical interface on a device is disclosed. A skinning theme document describing rendering characteristics of the graphical interface is parsed. The document comprising at least one data element representing data generated by an application and at least one custom event representing events generated by the application. The parsed information is stored in a template including at least one named data element and at least one custom event describing the graphical interface using a markup language. Updated data element or custom event information is received from an application through an interaction interface. The template is updated with the received updated data element or custom event information. The template is rendered as the graphical interface wherein the graphical user interface presents one or more data elements from each application is rendered.