New wallpapers with Expression Blend before you install Windows 8

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Sketched ideas and detailed static mockups look fine on paper, but need interactivity and animation when transferred to the computer. You can scan all the best ideas and import them into SketchFlow projects. Dynamic prototypes enable you to navigate between screens and states, generate sample data, add hand-sketched controls, and interact with the application. The following picture shows the Am7 Guitars image scanned into a SketchFlow project, with working controls added.

SketchFlow tips:  segregate different ideas and create branches in your project

Just segregate your different ideas and create several branches in the SketchFlow Map panel. Add several navigation screens connected to the Start screen in the SketchFlow Map panel. Mark your different ideas with color visual tags. The example below shows one project with several branches. Then, interact with your team members. Show them your ideas and the implemented branches of your prototype. Choose the best idea in the end.

Wow, that’s really my first book - Microsoft® Expression Blend 4 Step by Step that coming out in late 2010.

Expression Blend 4 is part of Microsoft’s Expression Studio. It is a professional tool for creating cutting-edge user interfaces based on the popular technologies: WPF/ Silverlight. Expression Blend enables designers to easily collaborate with developers.

Book Summary

Microsoft® Expression Blend 4 Step by Step will be for designers and developers who want to learn how to create user experiences for the web and desktop using Expression Blend. Expression Blend 4 Step by Step will teach new users how to create, maintain, and manage Silverlight applications that can be embedded in web pages or as desktop applications. Additionally, this book will serve readers already familiar with Expression Blend, but who want to learn the latest features incorporated into the V4 release.

Authors

Elena Kosinska is a Microsoft MVP (Expression Blend), UX designer
Chris Leeds  is a Microsoft MVP (Expression Web), HTML Writers Guild

Where to pre-order?

You may pre-order Microsoft® Expression Blend 4 Step by Step now and Amazon will deliver it to you when it arrives.

Here you can find a small set of styled buttons : ArrowLight, ArrowDark, ArrowLightColor, ArrowDarkColor. That best suits for: controlling an image gallery, switching between application pages, detail views, scrolling the list and so on.

Description:

ArrowLight

Uses only one color for background that you can set through Background="White". States change by increasing/decreasing the opacity and/or displaying the white shadow.  This style suits for dark or bright areas.

ArrowDark

Uses only one dark/bright color for background that you can set through the Background property, for example Background="#FFFCCE56". States change by increasing/decreasing the opacity and/or displaying the grey shadow effect.  This style suits for white or light areas.

ArrowLightColor

Uses two colors. Set the Background property for the “Normal” state and “Foreground”  - for the “MouseOver” State (White and  #FF269B7B, for example). States change by increasing/decreasing the opacity of both colors and/or displaying the white shadow.

ArrowDarkColor

Uses two colors. Set the Background property for the “Normal” state and “Foreground”  - for the “MouseOver” State (#FF269D7B and  #FFFCCE56, for example). States change by increasing/decreasing the opacity of both colors and/or displaying the gray shadow. This style suits for white or light areas. Use opposite, bright colors for “Normal” and “MouseOver” states.

Links:

• Demo project
• Download ArrowStyles
• Download demo

You know, Expression Blend allows you to prototype data-driven user interfaces without having access to live data. You can easily generate and customize sample data for your SketchFlow applications from Data panel. Expression Blend 3 uses “chairs” as sample images and they are really nice for product lists, but sometimes you need to give your data a new look. If your application displays a list of companies - it’s better to use sample logos or sketch logos.

I’d like to show you how these samples look in my SketchFlow applications.

Figure 1. A list of industry groups with sketch logos

Figure 2. Sketch images and logos.

I’ve also created alphabetic logos in Expression Design by using different effects:

You can use these sample logos in your SketchFlow applications:

It will be much more interesting than chairs, right?

SampleLogos.zip (181.89 kb)

With Microsoft Expression Blend 3 Preview, you can create Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications for the desktop and Microsoft Silverlight 3 applications for the web.

Expression Blend 3 Preview is a major new release, taking the product in a number of new, important directions, such as on-the-fly sample data generation. We also added support for several Silverlight 3 features.

Expression Blend 3 Preview is a step on a long journey toward tools that are meant to empower designers to participate in the process of software creation in deep, meaningful, and creative ways.

Using Expression Blend 3 Preview, you, the designers, can make computers easier and more fun to use, and can delight customers with great applications and great content.

Read more at Expression Blend 3 Preview