Microsoft Expression Blend Unleashed is about learning a new tool for designers, but also learning a new mindset for developers. Expression Blend enables the delivery of rich interactive applications, for the web as well as the desktop, allowing you to take graphical assets and blend them with functional .NET code through the power of XAML and the WPF platform. Microsoft Expression Blend Unleashed also features a C# Primer, introducing designers to the .NET Framework. .NET allows the reader to extend the functionality of many of the WPF elements used in Expression Blend. The most important concept for the reader to grasp is that Blend and Visual Studio together are about facilitating the kind of user experience everyone wants from the applications they use. This book will give you the skill set whether you are a designer or developer; from there, you just need to use a little imagination.

Detailed information on how to...

• Design and develop WPF applications
• Use Blend's animation workflows
• Design and implement WPF template types
• Create and manage Resource Dictionaries
• Master WPF Style templates
• Handle control events
• Understand advanced control properties in XAML/Blend/C#
• Create customized controls through inheritance
• Understand the fundamentals of XAML-based design and development
• Implement effective XML, CLR Data binding, and XAML template binding
• Extend XAML functionality with C# code
• Implement video and audio in your applications
• Use Blend as part of your designer/developer workflow