What is email design?
Email design refers to the visual elements of an email campaign and the branding and user experience associated with that design. These visual elements include (but aren’t limited to) font, logo, colors, pictures, and images.
Why is email design important?
Email design is important for the same reason that the copy of an email is important: that is, your email design is communicating something to your audience (whether you intend it or not). Your email design might communicate professionalism, or it might portray trendy-ness, or it might feel casual to the reader. The important thing is to intentionally craft whatever the user experience is (rather than leave it up to random chance).
The email design you choose should be consistent with your brand image and voice, it should (usually) be clean, clear, and include plenty of whitespace. And above all, it should be well thought-out — just as well thought-out as the email itself.
Look just at the design of these two emails and consider, as an example, the different feel of each.
First example:
(Second example:
The first feels casual-professional while the second is far more playful and fun. That’s one example of how much the design of your email can communicate.
Now, in the next section, we’ll discuss email design tips and best practices.