diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index a2d7ed5..bd5bbd5 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -498,6 +498,18 @@ version = "2.3.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "630be753d4e58660abd17930c71b647fe46c27ea6b63cc59e1e3851406972e42"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bitvec"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1bc2832c24239b0141d5674bb9174f9d68a8b5b3f2753311927c172ca46f7e9c"
+dependencies = [
+ "funty",
+ "radium",
+ "tap",
+ "wyz",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "block"
 version = "0.1.6"
@@ -553,6 +565,28 @@ version = "3.13.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "a3e2c3daef883ecc1b5d58c15adae93470a91d425f3532ba1695849656af3fc1"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bytecheck"
+version = "0.6.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8b6372023ac861f6e6dc89c8344a8f398fb42aaba2b5dbc649ca0c0e9dbcb627"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytecheck_derive",
+ "ptr_meta",
+ "simdutf8",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "bytecheck_derive"
+version = "0.6.11"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a7ec4c6f261935ad534c0c22dbef2201b45918860eb1c574b972bd213a76af61"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bytemuck"
 version = "1.13.1"
@@ -1283,6 +1317,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "percent-encoding",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "funty"
+version = "2.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e6d5a32815ae3f33302d95fdcb2ce17862f8c65363dcfd29360480ba1001fc9c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "futures-core"
 version = "0.3.28"
@@ -1414,6 +1454,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "fast_qr",
  "png",
  "raptorq",
+ "rkyv",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2338,6 +2379,26 @@ version = "1.0.8"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "332cd62e95873ea4f41f3dfd6bbbfc5b52aec892d7e8d534197c4720a0bbbab2"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ptr_meta"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0738ccf7ea06b608c10564b31debd4f5bc5e197fc8bfe088f68ae5ce81e7a4f1"
+dependencies = [
+ "ptr_meta_derive",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "ptr_meta_derive"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "16b845dbfca988fa33db069c0e230574d15a3088f147a87b64c7589eb662c9ac"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "quote"
 version = "1.0.32"
@@ -2347,6 +2408,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "proc-macro2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "radium"
+version = "0.7.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "dc33ff2d4973d518d823d61aa239014831e521c75da58e3df4840d3f47749d09"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rand"
 version = "0.8.5"
@@ -2439,6 +2506,15 @@ version = "0.7.4"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "e5ea92a5b6195c6ef2a0295ea818b312502c6fc94dde986c5553242e18fd4ce2"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rend"
+version = "0.4.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "581008d2099240d37fb08d77ad713bcaec2c4d89d50b5b21a8bb1996bbab68ab"
+dependencies = [
+ "bytecheck",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "renderdoc-sys"
 version = "1.0.0"
@@ -2473,6 +2549,34 @@ dependencies = [
  "bytemuck",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rkyv"
+version = "0.7.42"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0200c8230b013893c0b2d6213d6ec64ed2b9be2e0e016682b7224ff82cff5c58"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitvec",
+ "bytecheck",
+ "hashbrown 0.12.3",
+ "ptr_meta",
+ "rend",
+ "rkyv_derive",
+ "seahash",
+ "tinyvec",
+ "uuid",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "rkyv_derive"
+version = "0.7.42"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b2e06b915b5c230a17d7a736d1e2e63ee753c256a8614ef3f5147b13a4f5541d"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 1.0.109",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "roxmltree"
 version = "0.15.1"
@@ -2580,6 +2684,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "tiny-skia",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "seahash"
+version = "4.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1c107b6f4780854c8b126e228ea8869f4d7b71260f962fefb57b996b8959ba6b"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "serde"
 version = "1.0.180"
@@ -2647,6 +2757,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "libc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "simdutf8"
+version = "0.1.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f27f6278552951f1f2b8cf9da965d10969b2efdea95a6ec47987ab46edfe263a"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "simplecss"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -2823,6 +2939,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tap"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "55937e1799185b12863d447f42597ed69d9928686b8d88a1df17376a097d8369"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "tempfile"
 version = "3.7.0"
@@ -3131,6 +3253,12 @@ version = "0.2.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "711b9620af191e0cdc7468a8d14e709c3dcdb115b36f838e601583af800a370a"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "uuid"
+version = "1.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "79daa5ed5740825c40b389c5e50312b9c86df53fccd33f281df655642b43869d"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "vec_map"
 version = "0.8.2"
@@ -3712,6 +3840,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wyz"
+version = "0.5.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "05f360fc0b24296329c78fda852a1e9ae82de9cf7b27dae4b7f62f118f77b9ed"
+dependencies = [
+ "tap",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "x11-dl"
 version = "2.21.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index e4f8e78..01cd608 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ fast_qr = { version = "0.9", default-features = false, features = ["image"] }
 raptorq = "1.7"
 # pinning this to resolve conflict between eframe and fast_qr with the image crate
 png = "0.17.6"
+rkyv = { version = "0.7.42", features = ["validation"] }
diff --git a/examples/messages.rs b/examples/messages.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..226062f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/messages.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+use godiva::{Message, MessageData};
+
+fn main() {
+    dbg!(std::mem::size_of::<MessageData>());
+    dbg!(std::mem::size_of::<Message>());
+}
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 8b13789..ac267f2 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -1 +1,39 @@
+use std::fmt::Debug;
 
+use rkyv::{Archive, Deserialize, Serialize};
+
+#[derive(Archive, Deserialize, Serialize, PartialEq, Eq, Clone)]
+pub enum MessageData {
+    Text(String),
+    Data(Vec<u8>),
+}
+
+impl Debug for MessageData {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut std::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> std::fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            Self::Text(msg_txt) => f.debug_tuple("Text").field(msg_txt).finish(),
+            Self::Data(data) => f
+                .debug_tuple("Data")
+                .field(&format!("{} bytes", data.len()))
+                .finish(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Archive, Deserialize, Serialize, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Clone)]
+pub struct Message {
+    pub description: String,
+    pub data: MessageData,
+}
+
+impl Message {
+    pub fn new(data: MessageData, desc: Option<&str>) -> Self {
+        let description = if let Some(desc) = desc {
+            desc.to_owned()
+        } else {
+            "none".to_owned()
+        };
+
+        Message { description, data }
+    }
+}