There is a bunch of exciting new features in the upcoming version of Blend; bundles of ready-to-use behaviors, transition effects and more ways to add more interactivity with less code. All of which become even more rich with possibilities when you add the bevy of new, sketch style shapes to the mix. In the pursuit of producing, testing and sharing great ideas and interaction to facilitate instant communication and conversation with clients and teammates, this set of form assets is a big help. Adam Kinney posted an overview with tons of details here. The Release Candidate of Blend 4 is available for download here.

I am very thrilled to announce; the book that Chris Bernard and I wrote is shipping from Amazon right now! The content combines a mix of discussions around design process, prototyping and user experience with tutorials for Sketchflow in Expression Blend. The tutorial sections offer 2 different learning styles; the traditional ’show me how to create a transition‘ and a client project to walk through how to use Blend and Sketchflow throughout the course of building a project from sketching ideas to the finished application. There is a beautifully written forward by Bill Buxton, himself, that truly sets the tone for what follows. Thank you, Bill! And thanks to everyone who helped make this a reality, you rock!