Design

This year's summer emails are making a splash! From bold colors to inventive animations to curious CTA buttons, the designs are whimsical and fresh. Here are 10 of our favorites to inspire you. Enjoy!

Madewell: A mysterious CTA button

A dash of mystery can go a long way. Madewell doesn't often send emails like this, so the cryptic message really stood out when it came through. We clicked!

Sudara: Header-to-footer fun

See those drippy drops in Sudara's hero image? Look how they "drip" down to the menu below, too!

BTW, that hero image is animated! It's perfect for summer.

Bloomingdale's: Playful words and layout

Barbecues, beach days, lazy beach afternoons... summertime vacation means time to live the simple life. I mean, the sample life. Bloomingdale's play on words is perfect for summer, and this email has a gorgeous layout, too. (We trimmed it because it was pretty long.)

Urban Outfitters: A unique %-off hero image

Having a big sale this summer? Most brands are. We've seen plenty of go-to, simple hero images depicting discounts in large fonts. But Urban Outfitters had fun with this origami-inspired style that breaks the mold.

theSkimm: A celebratory CTA

theSkimm newsletter just turned 5 years old! To celebrate, they created two celebratory GIFs: one as the hero image...'

...and another as a CTA button!

Even though the CTA is not bulletproof, we've gotta say, this caught our eye.

Tarte: Emoji-happy pre-header and pool party GIF

Tarte sent a pool party-themed promotion email, a celebration that started at the pre-header text and continued to the splash-right-in GIF that followed.

Uppercase: A full-bleed, dynamic hero image

We've caught a few brands sending beautiful, large hero images that fluidly scale to the size of the screen. The brands are likely bypassing media queries and coding with fluid-width percentages. The look is stunning, as seen in this example from Uppercase.

Rent the Runway: Rainbow bright

Why send the top five or 10 dresses when you can send 30, arranged perfectly to follow the colors of the rainbow?! What an eye-catching example of product display from Rent the Runway.

Blue Mercury: Out-of-the-box content dividers

Sometimes white space will do the trick; other times a simple line will do. But Blue Mercury's splashy turquoise flourishes are a fresh take on content division.

Chubbies: Clever copy to drive clicks

Okay, this email made us smile (as Chubbies emails often do). It just goes to show how some clever copy goes a long way.

Have you sent some summer emails you're proud of? Send them our way!

Email icons may be small in size, but they're big in importance—they're powerful little storytelling tools!When it comes to the limited space in an email, visual cues like icons go a long way. Well-executed icons can help showcase a product or service (that may not be easy to photograph), makecomplex messages easier to understand, and convey conceptual or abstractmessages quickly.Here's your guide to why and how to use icons in email, plus inspiration from brands doing it best and design best practices for creating your own. We'll also wrap up our post with a list of resources for finding free, ready-made icons. Keep reading for all you need to know about icons in email.

Email icons: What are they good for?

What value do icons really bring to email? Here's what we think icons can do for you:

1. Get eyes on your message. Ever get bored of reading and just looked at the pictures instead? We've all been there. And as email designers and marketers, you already know that visual content is king. When placed alongside text, icons shout out "Look at me!" to get your readers' eyes on important information.
2. Communicate quicker and better. The human brain processes visual information quickly, so icons help readers absorb information faster. Use them to bring to life your business’s processes, services, or features in a way that helps readers "get it" more quickly.
3. Delight readers! Icons are an opportunity to have a little fun in an email.

Inspiration: Beautiful email icons in action

Scrolling through our inbox, it didn't take long to uncover great examples of email icons. To inspire you, here's a roundup of some of our favorites.

1. DryBar

DryBar's icons are playful and cheerful, with an on-brand outside-the-lines, watercolor effect. This email has no photography, so the icons go a long way in adding interest to the message.

2. SitePoint

Check out the super simple line drawings that accompany the ANYTHING / FOREVER / EXPANDING brand values at the bottom of this SitePoint email. There isn't a single extraneous element—no extra colors, lines, shadows, or flourishes—yet they communicate the concepts they representefficiently and successfully.

3. Evernote

Evernote's icons are some of the more complex ones we spotted. Still, with the simple color scheme and consistent shading, they work, even at a small size. (This email scales beautifully on mobile with responsive design, too).

4. Grammarly

The icons in this Grammarly email steal the show—they're pretty much the only visual element. We love how they're used right at the opening in lieu of a single hero image.

5. Redbook

The flat design Redbook Magazine used for these icons is a reliable approach for communicating on a small scale. The numbers unify the collection, while the orange carrot in #4 is a great example of when an exception to the color scheme is okay when an illustration calls for it.

6. ClassPass

No one said icons had to be tiny all of the time. ClassPass bridges the gap between icons and spot illustrations with beautiful simple line illustrations that make this email totally stand out.

Best practices for designing email icons

Feeling inspired? We hope so! Here are our recommendations for designing your own email icons.

1. Strip away unnecessary details and embellishments. Ever heard the wise advice to take off one piece of jewelry before leaving the house? Follow this "rule" for icon design, too. This means, after designing your first draft of an icon, go back and see what you can take away. Effective icons are extremely simple and elegant. Your eyes should be able to register instantly what something is (so don't go too simple), but they don't need to spend extra time deciphering details.
2. Simplify your color scheme. Most brands stick to two or three colors. Be sure to check how your icons will look against different colors, including both light and dark backgrounds.
3. Don't include text within the icon. Icons typically sit alongside text. Including text in the icon itself is asking for trouble when the illustration needs to scale. Don't make readers squint; keep text outside your icons. (An except could be a single letter, like the "P" in the Pinterest icon, for instance.)
4. Have context awareness. This means you should research the already-vast universe of iconography and be intimately familiar with your visual brand identity.
5. Be consistent. Maintain consistency within the set of icons you're creating. Consider line widths, colors, shadows, and angles. Your icons should be part of the same family, and instantly recognizable as such.

Hungry for more granular iconography insight? We highly recommend this in-depth guide to better icon design from Smashing Magazine.

Free icons: Where to find ready-made icons

When it comes to icons, you don't need to reinvent the wheel often. There are hundreds and hundreds of ready-made icon families available for your use. As you evaluate which ones might work for you, use the best practices above to choose one what's visually strong and what best suits your brand needs. Here's where to go for excellent resources:

1. Free Icons for Product Design (InVision)
2. Free Icons: 49 Best Sites to Find Beautiful and Useful Free Icons (Canva)
3. 40 Sets of Free Icons (Creative Bloq)
4. 8 Sites to Help You Get Awesome Icons for Your Email Marketing Campaigns (Campaign Monitor)
5. 99 Freebies to Help You Build Awesome Websites (SkillCrush)

Spruce up your email icon design and go Pro!

Gather up your new beautiful icons and create an equally beautiful email in our easy-to-use, drag-n-drop BEE editor. You can even watch our video tutorial on how to customize social media icons in BEE. No HTML knowledge is required. Your email will be mobile responsive, and your icons will shine. Sign up for a BEE Pro free trial!

We're winding down LGBT Pride Month, and our inbox has been filled all month with an infusion of color, pride, and love as the world celebrates the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. We've rounded up some of our favorite Pride Month email designs so you can soak up the celebration, and maybe take away some email design tips, too.

CB2: a simple event invitation that hits all the marks

There's something that's instantly visually appealing about this email. Maybe it's the combination of all the white space coupled with the rainbow color scheme, along with the large, easy-to-read text. Overall, the design feels fresh and bright. Plus, what's not to love about the emoji hearts in the pre-header text? Well done, CB2.

Marc Jacobs: beautifully bare modular email design

In this Pride Month email from Marc Jacobs, there's no need for borders, lines, or extraneous separators between modules. By alternating between photos with blue backgrounds and one without, the content is naturally segmented.

Lyft: a "boxed" layout that pops

Lyft's Pride Month email design uses an HTML background color that gives the central content a boxed look. This effect is easy to implement (check out our tutorial) and can help center readers' attention.

Everlane: a colorful photo stream (that just needs a bit of live text)

The alternating yellow-blue photos in Everlane's pride email work well here. We also like how the first module is followed by a text break and CTA button before readers opt to continue scrolling or not. But let's get some live text here to break up the images, including in the CTA buttons.

OkCupid: inverted pyramid in action

OkCupid makes smart design choices here. The inverted pyramid layout leads readers' eyes down to the bulletproof CTA button. Plain text is used on a bright HTML background color that compliments the great hero illustration. It's simple and effective!

Happy Pride Month, everyone! Thanks for celebrating with us, in our inbox and beyond.

Today's personalized emails are filled with dynamic content. Just take a look at how many emails in your inbox include personalized content that's tailored to you. This can be as simple as seeing your first name to the more advanced product recommendations, ads, and even full images!Thanks to a number of online tools, adding dynamic content to our email campaigns is becoming easier and more accessible, as we'll see in this email design workshop. You can actually take any image from your email campaigns and turn it into a personalized, dynamic image. Your subscribers will see their own name shown up, as shown below with this happy birthday image from NiftyImages:

Image courtesy of NiftyImages

Practical example: A happy birthday email

Let's take this happy birthday email from Stitch Fix, an online styling brand, which was featured in our blog post on happy birthday email design tips and examples.Birthdays are a great opportunity to connect on a personal level with your subscribers. They'll love to know you’re thinking of them and happy to see a personal offer on their special day. If you're not already sending a personalized birthday email, now's the time to start, since tailored birthday emails achieve a 179% higher click-through rate compared to regular promotional emails.

We'll be taking the static birthday cake image from the Stitch Fix email and transforming it into a dynamic, personalized image that will show your subscriber's first name. Here's what the finished email looks like from my inbox with my name, Kelly:

Tools you’ll need to get started

We’ll be using these two online tools to build our dynamic, personalized happy birthday email:

1. Our intuitive, drag-n- drop Beefree editor to design the email message. If you’re not already using Beefree, sign up for our free plan.
2. NiftyImages to build the personalized image. NiftyImages is a platform that provides easy-to-use tools for creating personal images and countdown timers. You can sign-up for free on https://niftyimages.com/

Step #1: Design your email in Beefree

Let's recreate the layout of the Stitch Fix happy birthday email in the Beefree editor. Begin with a single column layout and add the header, image block, and text blocks below.

Next, add the text and customize the CTA button. Let's also add a turquoise HTML color padding to the image, as in the original email. For now, though, let's leave the image placeholder blank.Our layout is pretty much complete. We now need to create the personalized, dynamic image from NiftyImages and then upload it into our image block in BEE:

Step #2: Create and customize your personalized image with NiftyImages

If you haven't already, create a NiftyImages free account to get started immediately!

Step #2.1: Design your personalized image

On the welcome screen, select New Personalized Image.

 You can either:

1. Upload your own image
2. Choose a template from the NiftyImages library

Here's a peekat the great birthday image templates that are available:

Since we already have our birthday image from the Stitch Fix example, let's upload into NiftyImages. Click the [Upload Image] button in the upper right corner to import the Stitch Fix image. The default personalization text "Great deals for our customers" will show up for us to edit next.

Using the menu on the left, we can indeed customize the font size and style, and the text itself. Let'supdate the message to reflect the birthday theme:

For now, we'll use FIRSTNAME as a placeholder for our dynamic text; you'll see how to customize it for your email service provider (ESP) in the next step.Next,provide backup text, so that any recipient whose name isn't in your mailing list database will still receive a complete message.

Let's now preview how our birthday image looks, by clicking on the button in the upper right corner:

Step 2.2: Create your dynamic image URL

Let's get a bit technical. The personalized happy birthday image that we designed has a special dynamic URL. Notice that the image URL has the recipient first name field as a parameter at the end, which is specific to the emailing platform that you'll be using to send this email. You therefore need to choose your email service provider (ESP) from the drop down. Here's an example for MailUp, our email marketing platform.

This step is very important: if the first name merge tag syntax is wrong, then the image won't work. Each ESP has a different syntax for merge tags (some use curly brackets, for instance). The drop-down in NiftyImages generates the URL for your email service provider (ESP). So once you choose your ESP, copy the image URL and let's get back to Beefree. We're almost done!Here a quick video tutorial from NiftyImages on how to generate the dynamic image URL:

Step #3: Add the personalized image to your email

In Beefree, click on the image placeholder to view the menu on the right. Turn on the Dynamic image button from the Content Properties. To learn more about the dynamic image feature of Beefree, please view our help article on How to use dynamic images for countdown timers and personalized content.

Paste the image URL from NiftyImages and the personalized happy birthday image will now appear in the Beefree editor.

Finally, let's preview how the recreated Stitch Fix happy birthday email looks with the personalized, dynamic image that we created. Looks great, don't you think? :)

Design your next personalized email with Beefree!

Voilá! We've created an awesome personalized happy birthday email with just two design tools and in three simple steps. So, there's no excuse not to try more personalization in your email campaigns! If you’re not already using Beefree, sign-up for our free plan!

When it comes to design newsletters, which ones from the design industry stand out? We rounded up eight of our favorite newsletters sent by designers, design organizations, and agencies to get a look at how the pros do email.As you might expect, the messages are beautiful to look at; each one offers unexpected design choices and fresh ideas to use in your own email marketing. So, let's evaluate the visuals!

#1: AIGA Eye on Design

"Eye on Design" is published by AIGA, the oldest and largest nonprofit design organization in the U.S. The newsletter aims to keep subscribers up to speed on the best new work from emerging and established designers around the world. 

Design Choices We Love:

• Color! In a sea of so many white emails, the classic "Eye on Design" pink can't be missed. AIGA also proves that borders can be done well. The dark pink border around each newsletter is distinct and attractive, and a fresh take on the "boxed" email look.
• Unusual image shapes. Who said every image used in your inverse pyramid layouts needs to be rectangular? AIGA's rotation of unique photo crops (triangular, circular, square) adds visual interest.

#2: It's Nice That

London-based It's Nice That prides itself on championing creative work, whether through its website, talk series, magazine, or daily roundup newsletter. The newsletters are straightforward and photo-focused, with less emphasis on text. We trimmed this example for easier viewing:

Design Choices We Love:

• Simplicity.Each email is beautifully streamlined: One column. No navigation menu. Vibrant, clickable images without much text.
• Use of white space. The white space used in the header and throughout the email gives it a fresh feel. And, the padding between each module is just right!

#3: Design Milk

Design Milk, a blog founded by Jaime Derringer, features design inspiration across industries, from architecture to art to tech. The "Design Milk Daily" provides subscribers with a rundown of the blog's latest content in an easy-to-digest format.

Design Choices We Love:

• Content arrangement. The side-by-side text and photo modules give the email a two-column layout look, even though it's just one. It's a style we don't often see, and it stands out.
• Live text. The titles to the left of each image aren't part of the images in the module; live text is highlighted by light gray HTML background colors.

#4: Swissmiss

Swissmiss—as stated in the header of each newsletter—is a design blog/studio run by Tina Roth Eisenberg. She started Swissmiss back in 2005, and the well-known design journal now averages over a million unique visitors a month. How's that for inspiration?! Each weekday, Swissmiss's newsletter delivers a collection of curated design content to inboxes.

Design Choices We Love:

• A pop of color in the header. The red bar at the top isn't an image; it's a well-placed block of HTML color.
• Quotes and poems. Swissmiss's newsletters regularly include blocks of quotes or poems, like the Dan Sullivan quote at the end of this email. This reminds us of the way General Assembly sometimes uses a quote as a sign-off in its email campaigns. It's a nice touch, and something you don't often see.

#5: InVision

InVision is a design workflow platform, and the company also sends weekly design newsletters with great content. The emails all have a beautiful, clean layout.

Design Choices We Love:

• Clever CTA copy. InVision maintains readers' attention with its thoughtfully-crafted CTA buttons. They're well designed, and the text makes them even more tempting to click on.
• Generous line height and padding. White space is achieved by letting each piece of content breathe. A good rule of thumb is to set your line height to be at least 1.3x the height of your letters, maintaining a comfortable distance between lines. Plus, breaks between each section should be the height of a full line of text. The result: great legibility and content that don't feel cramped.

#6: Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine is a digital mag for professional web designers and developers. It's an incredible resource, with a newsletter that consistently includes more than 10 useful articles, tools, and resources for designers. We reduced the view of this recent edition because of its long length:

Design Choices We Love:

• Anchor links. Because emails are so long, Smashing always includes a table of content with anchor links to each section. For long emails like this, anchor links are incredibly useful, and they're not difficult to implement! Check out our anchor links tutorial for easy instructions.
• Numbered section headings with large font. Consistent formatting for section headers provides organization for long, text-heavy emails. We love the large-sized typeface and numbering system.

#7: 10 Things from Your Majesty Co.

Your Majesty Co. is a design and tech firm based in New York and Amsterdam. Their "10 Things" newsletter is sent weekly, always with a list of 10 recommendations that week. The newsletter is strikingly spare.

Design Choices We Love:

• "Secret" linked text. The email's content doesn't look linked, but it is. The link style has been formatted to be black text without any formatting. Normally, we wouldn't recommend this unexpected technique because readers might miss your links. But in this case, newsletter recipients know what to expect, since the newsletter has the same look each week.
• Serious simplicity. No need to worry about image formatting, text to image ratios, or HTML background colors. Your Majesty Co. made an intentional choice to keep their newsletter stunningly simple, and this definitely sets them apart.

#8: Shillington

The Shillington School of Graphic Design has been around since 1997 and is known for helping designers kickstart their careers. The newsletter, sent once a week, always brings a pop of color.

Design Choices We Love:

• Alternating background colors. Each newsletter sticks with a color pairing from Shillington's brand palette—in this case, it's purple and teal. The bold colors, striking header, and consistent layout choices make the newsletter immediately recognizable, even as the colors change.
• Standout header design. The header is unique and elegant, with just a little flair that goes beyond the company logo.

Design your next email and go Pro!

If you've been inspired by the design pros featured here, put your new ideas to use with the BEE editor and create your next email message.No HTML knowledge is required, and your email will be mobile responsive. Sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial!

You probablyknow Seamless as a popular food ordering service. But if you receive theiremails, you also know the brand delivers more than meals. Thebite-sized morsels of content that show up in our inbox never fail to wow us with playful, engaging design.Check 'em out.

GIFs and bold brand colors are the order of the day.

Along with playful, on-brand copy (including in CTA buttons).

Spot illustrations and high-quality food photos make appearances, too.

Simple header design + minimal text + inverted pyramid layout = easy-to-read emails

But you're not always seeing the same template. It's all about making people smile... and making them hungry.

Bravo, Seamless! We always look forward to eyeing your emails!

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer. We're seeing a steady supply of festive, summer-themed emails filling up in our inbox since the long weekend holiday is a great opportunity for retailers and brands to reach out to customers.Don't worry if you haven't sent an email campaign yet, there's still time to create one! Here are five Memorial Day email design trends we tracked down to motivate you.

Trend #1: Good things come in threes

As Memorial Day approaches, brands are doing their best to predict what their customers will do. Guessesrange fromgoing to the beachto gathering with family and friendsto celebrating outside. E-commerce brands, in particular, want to help their customers celebrate in style. This year, it seems that three is the lucky number in emails. Here's one example from J.Crew. The email presents "three easy outfit equations":

Pulling together outfits is a creative way for fashion brands to inspire and potentially up-sell, too. Eloquii takes a very similar approach with this three-outfit Memorial Day email design:

Eloquii organized content by a numbered list, but other brands chose to organize by theme, like in this email from Rent the Runway:

And Kate Spadetook a bold guess that their customers would be near water, offering three swimsuits to relax in:

Each of these emails is a great length, providing neither too much content nor too little. Plus, grouping content into three sections also provides an opportunity to get playful with layout (think modular design and mobile-responsive photo collages). So when it comes to email design, three makes sense.

Trend #2: Single-story inverted pyramid layout

For newsletters andpublishers who aren't pushing product deals this Memorial Day, a simpler approach to email design works. We saw a few emails that follow the time-honored inverted pyramid approach: a great image, followed by a header and text, followed by a compelling CTA button. Here's an example from PureWow:

The inverted pyramid layout highlights a single, focused piece of click-worthy content, which is the perfect way to drive readers to a website. Plus, the email is easy to put together, too. Acarefully-selected stock image, a block of text, and acustomized button are all you need. Thissponsored emailalso closes with a Smirnoff ad, which is well-placed after the CTA; it's visible to subscribres but doesn't interfere with the email organization. Be sure to check out our Publishers' Guide to Email Advertisingfor everything you need to know about ads in email.The Honest Company also uses an inverted pyramid layout, offering a photo of a mouth-watering recipe:

If you elect to use this simple approach, having the perfect photo iskey. This vibrant, colorful, high-quality image from Honest is a great example of how the right photography can make or break the appeal of your content. But, there's some room for improvement: we would increase the font size and make sure the CTA button sounded a bit more enticing!

Trend #3: No photos? No problem!

Not all brands rely on photography for their Memorial Day email designs. Sometimes, companies that want to emphasize discounts and sales opt to forego product pictures. Instead, the biggest part of the email is the numbers themselves, andillustration and HTML background colors can go a long way in making those numbers pop. Here's an email example fromSperry. No shoes or clothing items are on display, but eyes land immediately on the number 40.

This email from Wayfair takes a similar approach, though more than one discount is featured.

The message above is clear: there isa loton sale. Even if one particular item doesn't catch the eye, the message conveys the overwhelming extent of a limited-time "mega sale."

Trend #4: Grid design shows but doesn't tell

We spotted quite a few Memorial Day emails featuring an array of products. Sometimes, a long email with plentyof eye candy can engage users. (After all, you know your audience best!) To prevent clutter, content-rich emails should always be designed on a grid—and be mobile responsive. Here's an example from Jetsetter:

A photo "collage" like this is the perfect way to advertise multiple productswhile avoiding the pitfalls of a single-image email. CampSaver uses a similar design:

Read more about designing on a grid and creating responsive infographics for email in our tutorial, How to Create a Responsive Email Infographic.

Trend #5: Interactive elements catch the eye

No holiday-themed email design roundup would be complete without emails that include interactivity. Special occasions lead to crowded inboxes, and crowded inboxes mean there's pressure in having emails stand out. So it's no surprise that more brands are taking their email design to the next level by includinginteractive elements like GIFs, countdowns, product tours, live shopping carts, and more. Memorial Day is no exception.This email from the mattress company Leesa includes an interactive countdown timer (it's no longer running, though, since this email is from last year!)

Countdown timers are attention-grabbing, and they encourage subscribers to snag last-minute deals before the time's up. Plus, they're easy to include! You can add a dynamic countdown timer to your email without coding. Find out how in our tutorial,How to add a countdown timer in email.To close our round-up, here's an email fromRover, with a cute and simple animated GIF:

It's not too late to design your Memorial Day email!

Design your next email campaign in our easy-to-use, drag-n-drop BEE editor. No HTML knowledge is required, and your email will be mobile responsive. Sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial!

When it comes to email marketing, the food industry takes the cake! Who's investing in email design? Food delivery services, restaurants, recipe blogs, food newsletters, and many more businesses. Let's take a look at 3 popular food brands and see what's cooking in their email design.

Blue Apron: Blues, borders & blocks sets their emails apart

Blue Apron delivers fresh ingredients to people's doors to make cooking meals easier.A navy blue color palate reinforces the company's approachable and friendly visual identity and service. Their emails include a combination of striking food photography coupled with distinctive blue text, illustrations, and borders.Here's a recent email from Blue Apron:

What Works

The general layout hits all the right notes. A simple header immediately leads readers' eyes to the email's centralcontent.We also love that the email'sfirst module has simple spot illustrationsthat provide a visual, easy-to-follow introduction to how the process works. A mini infographic like this helps readers understand exactly what they'd be buying into (which also works perfectly in a getting started email, too).The blue border used in the second module even gives the email an organized, hierarchical feel, and the images really pop on the simple white background. Blue Apron knows it's better to show than tell!Here's a shorter email from Blue Apron:

In all its messages, Blue Apron leans into the brand's blue color to create a recognizable visual identity. This particular email is almost comprised entirely of an animated GIF, as seen below:

What Could Be Improved

Although this layout is beautiful and playful,GIFs can be problematicand Blue Apron could improve the email by layering live text and a bulletproof buttonon top of theGIF. This ability is one of the most powerful features of the BEE editor, and you can learn how to create great text overlays here.The "Download our new iPhone app" image in the header looks a bit blurry, which should be optimized. (Read How to Optimize Images for Mobile Emailsfor tips). Or, the brand could use text instead of an image.

Bottom Line

Blue Apron's emails are recognizable and well-designed. The combination of gorgeous photographyand illustration make thesemessages appealing and friendly, while the brand's blue reinforces a familiar look.

Chobani: Visual simplicity leads the way

Chobani, the Greek yogurt brand, has skyrocketed to the top of the healthy eating industry. They have a great product and are smart in their marketing. The visual brand identity is bright, cheerful,and energetic. The company's approach to email design involves letting high-quality photography lead the way. Here's a recent example:

What Works

Chobani uses an inverted pyramid approach to organize its content. The email leads with a fantastic hero image, followed by a header, body text, and a call to action. They keep their email design simple and choose to include only one image, so that their readers don't getoverwhelmed or fail to take action and get the recipe!Here's another similaremail, this time with an animated GIF as its hero image. The GIF is followed by plain text and a bulletproof CTA, which works to make the message well-balanced and effective.

And here's the animation in action:

What Could Be Improved

To help these emails maintain a light, playful feel, Chobani could skip the bold text. Opting for a thinner typeface—or even a more colorful CTA button—might enhance the brand's look and feel.

Bottom Line

We can't argue with simplicity! Chobani's emails are fun to look at and easy to read

Maple Kitchen: Grid design adds to a polished look

Even thoughMaple Kitchenrecently stopped their dailyfood delivery service, we can still learn from how the brand approached their email design.Maple Kitchen's visual brand identity is polished and clean, with a consistent black-and-white color scheme that offsetscolorful images. Here's a recent email from the brand:

What Works

Maple relies ona set of templates, which means the brand doesn't waste time reinventing the wheel when designing each message. The brand maintains a uniform look by always employing the same header, font and image style, and HTML background color pattern (white content blocks, on top of a light gray "border").Another example (trimmed) below shows that a photo collage is asmart way to display stunning images with textandavoid the pitfalls of a single-image email.

What Could Be Improved

Including live text and bulletproof buttons (instead of images) would be better. In the BEE editor, it's easy to create a responsive photo collage by juxtaposing text blocks with images. (Or, you could even have text and button overlays across images).

Bottom line

Templates are the way to go. Maple's visual identity is reinforced every time a message is sent.

Wrap-up: Takeaways for food industry email design

These forward-thinking food brands get a lot of things right! Here's what we can learn from their email designs:

1. Streamline your header design—keep it simple!
2. Optimize images for mobile to avoid blur.
3. Use borders and HTML background colors to create content organization.
4. Use a background image with text and a CTA button, instead of uploading one single image section.
5. Organize content with an inverted pyramid layout.
6. Keep your email design focused.
7. Send more animated GIFs!
8. Consider using a template for design consistency.

Design your next foodie email and go Pro!

Feeling inspired? Design your next email campaign in our easy-to-use, drag-n-drop BEE editor. No HTML knowledge is required, plus your email will be mobile responsive. Sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial!

Email designers know that email borders and padding can make for greatdesign—it's about what you include as much as it is about what you leave out. Being sparing and selective about your design is particularly important in emails, where space is limited. This is why we often talk about the significanceof simplicity, white space, hierarchy, and organization.In this workshop, we'll review the ways in which the Beefree editor allows you to adjust email borders and padding. When you know how to fine-tune these elements, you canimprove your design quickly and efficiently, and without having to touch the HTML code!We will cover how to:

• Add borders around any email structure (e.g., between rows or columns)
• Add a border around an entire email
• Change the color, width, and style of borders
• Use and customize the divider feature
• Adjust padding around any content element or structure (e.g., text blocks, images, buttons, etc.)

Email inspiration: Nike's Mother's Day gift promotion

This email from Nike (subject line:Gifts She'll Love on Mother's Day) uses light gray borders and plenty of white space (padding). As a result, the message is light, bright, and well-organized. Here's a snapshot of the first module:

Let's get started!

To show you how to achieve the same effect, we recreated the email in the Beefree editor using a simple single column template—first, without borders or spacing adjustments.

How to customize borders in Beefree

1. Add and adjust a border around any email structure.

In the Beefree editor, borders can be added to any email structure. That means any structure in the structure menu can have a borderadded along the top, bottom, right, and/or left sides.

Our Nike email is made up of two single-column structures (the first structure element in the menu picturedabove). One contains the header (Nike logo and navigation menu) and one contains the body of the email (header text, text, and images). To add a border around either of these structures, we simply need to select it, then make adjustments in the border menu on the right.

2. Fine-tune the width, color, and style of any border

The border menu will allow you to fine-tune the color, width, and style of a border. We selected the first structure in our email—the one with the logo and navigation menu—then set the border color to gray and began increasing the width...

...Now, a border appears around the header, just like in the original email.

Select the body structure and do the same thing, and now there is a border around each section.

3. Add a border that goes around an entire email

What if we want just a border around the whole email? In the border menu, turn on more options using the slider in the upper right corner. Now, instead of adding a border justaround an entire structure, we can dictate which sides will be bordered: either the top, bottom, right, and/or left sides.

To remove the divider between the first (header) structure and the second (body) structure, adjust the top and bottom borders of each one.First, select the header structure and, in the border menu, decrease the bottom border to 0px.

Second, select the body structure and decrease the top border to 0px.

With the horizontal borders between each structure removed, the email has a border around its entirety.

4. Add a border (or divider) between rows

Instead of a border around the email, what if we simply want a horizontal line between the header structure and body? We can achieve this look in one of two ways. First, we can do the inverse of what we just did. We remove the top, right, and left borders from the first structure, but we keep the bottom border only. Then, we remove the borders fromthe second structure. Here's how it looks:

A second way of achieving this look is to removeall borders and simply drag in adivider from the content menu.

Once the divider is added to the email...

...it too can be customized. You can change a divider's width, thickness, color, and style using the content menu to the right.

How to customize padding in Beefree

Padding can be adjusted around any email structure or content element in the Beefree editor.This means you can increase or decreasethe padding along the top, bottom, right, and/or left sides of any text block, image, or button, or even an entire row or column.

1. Adjust the padding around a structure (like a row or column of content)

In the original Nike email, the images in the body of the email crowd against the right and left borders without any space between them.

To achieve the same look in our email, adjust the padding of the body structure. Simply select it, then make adjustments in the padding menu on the right.

As you can see, there is default padding around the structure. To eliminate padding along the right and left sides, turn on more options...

...then decrease the right and left padding to 0px.

Now, the images touch the borders along the sides, without padding in-between them.

2. Adjust the padding around a specific piece of content (like a button, image, or text block)

Padding can be adjusted at the content level, too. This means we can select almost anything in the email—like the Nike logo, navigation text, header text, images, or button—and increase or decrease the padding around any of its sides. Designers have incredible control over the spacing of elements in any Beefree email.Simply select the item you want to adjust. Let's start with the Nike logo.

Once it's highlighted, the same padding menu appears at the right. Turning on more options will allow you to add more padding to specific sides. In this case, increase padding to the top and bottom.

Here's how the header looks now:

As you have seen, adjusting the padding in Beefree is that simple. Try it on any element to create more space and breathability in your email.

Try it out and go Pro!

We hope you found this tutorial on borders and padding useful! If you're not already using Beefree, sign-up for a free account and have access to thousands templates and unbound design features.SaveSave

Hosting a great event is a powerful way to build your audience—especially if you can keep peopleinterested after the event is over. Event follow-up emails are a critical step in keeping new and existing audience members engaged with your brand. Here are three tips for turning your eventattendees into loyal followers.

Tip #1: Create an in-email survey

Asking attendees to complete a survey is acommon way to follow up after an event. Surveying readers canbenefitboth parties: it allows you to get direct feedback to make improvements, and it allows readers to communicate with you. However, it's still a big ask to get busy, on-the-go subscribers to stop what they're doing to offer input.That's whymaking your survey as easy and simple as possible is super important. One way is to ask just one question—directly in the body of the email. It's the approach CourseHorse, the class offerings site, takes in this event follow-up email:

By clicking on a star, the reader can provide feedback right in the email itself, and then the survey is over. There's no need to click a CTA button or go to a landing page. Here's another similar example from Delta:

A well-labeled rating scale is a common and simple way to survey readers—one that's easy to create simply with linked text or a series of CTA buttons.By comparison, General Assembly invitesattendees to share their thoughts in an external survey.

The email is well designed, and the call to action is clear, but email marketers have to ask themselves if subscribers will be more or less likely to answer a survey that takes them away from their inboxes. One way to get a clear answer is to create an A/B test, though our hunch is that the in-email survey might see better results.

Tip #2: Be clear about your call to action

It's not enough to email event attendees just to say "thanks." Often, event follow-up emails include one or more of the following calls to action:

• Take a survey or leave a review
• Browse and sign up for another event
• Act on an offer to get a discount on another product or event

But whatever you're asking attendees to do, it has to be clear in order to see results. In this Barclays Center email—an event space in Brooklyn—the CTA doesn't pass the squint test. It takes a moment to understand the purpose of the message.

Switching to a single-column design, cutting down on text, and making the survey either in-email or linked via a CTA button would all improve the clarity and readability of the email. By contrast, check out how easy it is to understand what Rover, the pet-sitting service, asks its readers in this follow-up email:

The CTA is clear and simple, and it's in the top third of the email. Plus, Rover gives readers three reasons why they should act, which might help get those clicks rolling in.

Again, by contrast, look at how it's also confusing to understand the CTA in this email from BAM, another event space:

Since that chat bubble button/icon isn't easily recognized (like how a traditional CTA button is, with the right color), it's hard to tell what BAM expects readers to do. "Put it all in context" is also a bit unclear. What does that mean? Something like, "Tell us what you think" might get more engagement.

When in doubt, make sure your CTA is a recognizable, strategically-designed button with concise, clear text.

Tip #3: Make an offer based on personalized reader data

As we've noted before, emailpersonalizationcan increase open and click-through rates, boost interaction, and generate revenue.It’s a strategy thatpresents readers with relevant contentbased on their behavior. And, subscribers who have just attended an event might be even more likely than the average reader to respond to a personalized email. So, it's smart to take this opportunity to customize your event follow-up message.Here's a recent follow-up email from Course Horse that includes a relevant, customized selection of upcoming classes for the subscriber, based on a previouslyattended event.

In another email, Course Horse uses the previous event location to offer a discount for upcoming events at the same place. Plus, a preview of upcoming classes is shown visually, too.

TicketLeap, the online ticket sales company, asks recent event attendees to create their own event (instead of just buying tickets to existing events). It's a smart upsell, but the email could use some design improvements to increase clarity. We'd recommend a strong header, less text, and moving the explainer video preview up to the top of the email.

Bonus tip: Follow up promptly!

Your follow-up emails should be ready to go before your event even happens, especially if your subscribers attended an event like a conference or trade show where there are multiple presenters. This can go a long way in being the first to follow up. In the graph below, the marketing agency Marketo shows how much more likely readers are to click through an email when you're the first vendor to follow up.

Source: Marketo

Design your next event follow-up email and go Pro!

Ready to create your own event follow-up emails? What about event invitation emails and event reminder emails? Sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial! No HTML knowledge is required, and you can use and edit professionally-designed templates. Plus, your email will be mobile responsive.Save

The online dating industry is showing no signs of slowing down. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in 2015, 15% of U.S. adults have used online dating sites or mobile dating apps andnearly half of the public knows someone who uses online dating or who has met a spouse or partnerthis way.Chances are, you or someone you know has tried online dating. So, we were curious: what does this industry offer when it comes to email marketing?We looked at a variety of free dating apps and services (Bumble, Coffee Meets Bagel, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, and Tinder, to name just a few) to see which brands actually sent emails consistently and effectively. Here's what we learned from how three brands are handling online dating emails.

Friendly and approachable: OkCupid's bold, fresh look

OkCupid is a free dating service that's been around since 2004; it's available online and via apps for iPhone and Android. Earlier this year, OkCupid's app and website both underwent a redesign; now, there's a bold, fresh lookthat's "quirky" and illustration-driven. Here's a look at the company's welcome email:

Here's why this design works:

• Simple, branded header. OkCupid skips the clutter of a navigation menu, using its logo as a simple header, which makes it versatile and effective.
• Cheerful hero illustration. The illustration style is playful and fun, and the festive spirit is a good choice for a welcome email.
• Large, legible text. Most of the email is live text, so there are fewer rendering risks, and the copy is short and easy to read.
• Easy-to-spot CTA button. That CTA button passes the squint test. Plus, there's just one, and it's placed adeptly at the end of the email.

Now, let's take a look at OkCupid'smatch email:

Here's why this design works:

• Personalization. This email could easily invite a user to log into the app to check recent matches. Instead, it shows the new matches, along with a CTA button to view each profile. The email basically says "click me" from top to bottom, in a way that's personal and engaging to the particular reader.
• Engaging in-email survey. In the "Improve Your Matches" section, OkC includes a single question in-email survey as the secondary content of the email. This easy-as-pie tactic allows readers to respond easily to a survey, which makes it likely to increase results.

Intimate and warm: Hinge's relationship-driven makeover

Hinge used to be a dating app driven by swipe technology where users swiped "yes" or "no" on potential matches. Now, the "new Hinge," which came outat the end of 2016, has ditched the swiping and rebranded as arelationshipapp. Working with the agency Red Antler, Hinge relaunched "as the dating app for people who are actually seeking relationships." The new lookis modern and photo-driven. Take a look at their welcome email:

Here's why this design works:

• Single-column module design. The email's layout makes it particularly easy to follow. Using an inverted-pyramid style for each module, the sections include animated GIFs, headers, and a short snippet of text to help you set up. And, by using subtle HTML background colors (white and gray), the modules have subtle borders—another boost to good organization.
• Show-not-tell animated GIFs. In each module above, the screenshot-style image is an animated GIF. They add a great interactive quality to the message, showing readers how to get going with the app.

Here's another email from Hinge, this time introducing new content to users:

Here's why this design works:

• Customized stock imagery. Hinge takes a basic stock image of NYC and adds the brand's signature loop-the-loop squiggle through the sky. This small touch is a smart way to get the most out of a stock image.
• Sweet spot illustrations. The little spot illustrations, or icons, that go with the study's findings are simple and engaging. They add a little something extra to the email that sets it apart.

Modern and creative: The League's organized wordiness

The League dating app is best known for its exclusivity. Users have to apply to join, then go through a screening process, and reportedly only 10-20% of applicants are accepted(the rest remain on a waitlist). When it comes to a visual style, The League leans heavily on a black-and-white color scheme, with a mix of photography and some turquoise spot-illustrations. Based on the emails, though, we'd say the League also prioritizes text content over visual. Here's the welcome email. Well, maybe the "wait" email.

Here's why this design works:

• Text headers. There aren't many frills when it comes to this email, but text organization is one thing the League does well. The bold, all-caps headers and bold sub-headers keep the message organized. Ample padding between text blocks helps, too, as do the horizontal lines. Even though the email has plenty of text, it's still skim-able.
• Customized linked text. We like that the "Download it now" text is the League's brand teal color, and we advocate customizing linked text (please no royal blue, underlined copy!). All The League needs to do next: upgrade to a bulletproof CTA.

Next, here's an updateemail example. The subject line was:

Here's why this design works:

• Creative emoji. Clearly, what makes this email stand out is its creative use of emoji. It's not exactly cutting-edge design, but it's a cute approach that is likely to catch readers' eyes. While we often see emoji in subject lines, we haven't quite seen them used like this in the body of an email. So A+ to the League for thinking outside the box.

Wrap-up: The design tips online dating emails have to offer

1. Simple, versatile, branded headers are winners.
2. The more data, the better. Engage readers with an in-email survey.
3. Animation helps show users how your product works.
4. Whenever possible, be personal. Customize emails for users to engage them better.
5. If you're going to use a lot of text, organize it! Be smart about headers and dividers.

Inspired by these online dating emails? Design your own email campaigns in our easy-to-use, drag-n-drop editor called BEE. No HTML knowledge is required, plus your emails will always be responsive. Learn more and sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial!

Email personalization is a must-have email marketing technique. It's a strategy thatpresents readers with relevant contentbased on their behavior. Email personalization is also a great way to cut through the noise—and it's effective. In fact,emailpersonalizationcan increase open and click-through rates, boost interaction, and generate revenue. Refresh your approach to personalized emailsby taking a look at how some brands do it best.

Take the opportunity to get personal.

Mostpersonalized emails are automated based on user behavior. Companies typically track "behavior" is to see how someone is using their product. For instance,Twitter tracks who each user is following in order to offer a list of similar users to follow.It all comes down to data. When you have information about readers' locations, interests, shopping histories, activities, and more, you can use that information to offer personalized content triggered by those user activities.Campaigns that often benefit from personalization include:

• Re-engagement emails
• Abandoned cart/registration emails
• Up-sell or cross-sell campaigns

Let's take a look at these strong brand examples.

1. Spotify: Concert recommendations based on location + listening habits

Spotify, the music-listening app, uses two key pieces of data to engageusers: location and listening habits. With that simple formula, the brand can offer concert suggestions. The headline in the resulting email says it all: Upcoming concerts near you by artists you love. 

When it comes to design, Spotify keeps it simple. Each module includes the artist name and image, along with the date and location of the concert. The simplicity means readers immediately see the relevant info in the email as soon as it's opened. A style like this is also a great opportunity to experiment withlive-text overlay on images, which ensures the email isn't comprised only of images.

2. Rover: Local 5-star sitter suggestions based on location

Rover, the dog-sitting app, uses email personalization to prompt readers to use its platform. In a location-driven, New York-centric email, Rover presents readers with reviews of local sitters.

A location-based header illustration pairs well with the text-driven email, and the CTA buttons are easy-to-spot and well-placed. The brand also uses my dog's name in the subject line of marketing emails, a smart and simple way to personalize day-to-day content:

3. Lyft: Special deals based on ride behavior

After I recently usedLyft in Minneapolis, the brand sent a personalized email with a 20% off coupon that was specific to the location.

Lyft's Deal of the Week may also be triggered by user inactivity (I used the app in Minneapolis a few times but then stopped) as well as the time of day usage (this deal is specific for evening rides). Together, the data can be funneled into an automated email that can easily be customized for different locations.However, Lyft can make its images look crisper by optimizing them for mobile screens. Here's our tutorial on how to make sure beautiful designs are never blurry.

4. Brooklinen: Discounts based on cart abandonment

Brooklinen, the bedding company, recently sent a two-email campaign triggered by shopping activity. Specifically, I put a sheet set in my cart, then closed the browser. Within days, I received a series of follow-up emails about the items in my cart—along with a fewdiscounts.

Here's one of the first emails that offered free shipping:

Since I didn't respond to this message, a second email was triggered the following day with a similar deal: $15 off. When the purchase still wasn't completed, a final reminder email was sent. Instead of sending just a single cart abandonment message, Brooklinen uses reader activity/inactivity to continue triggering personalized messages.

5. Airbnb: Activities or homes based on browse or booking activity

Once a user books a trip on Airbnb, the company takes the opportunity to present relevant "experiences" that correspond with the date of your trip.

The message uses numbers to create urgency. The header indicates there are 19,000 people traveling and only 6 events with seats left. It's a great use of data!But, Airbnb doesn't just track what you've already booked; the brand has an eye on what you've browsed, too. Here's an email that supplies personalized suggestions for where to stay, based on the city the reader browsed.

The five-star ratings are a particularly compelling and wise inclusion.

6. Paperless Post: Invitation Reminder based on Annual Activity

Paperless Post, the invitation platform, keeps a record of your invitations. Create one for a birthday, and guess what—the brand is smart enough to send an automated emaila year later to remind you to plan the next party.

7. SoulCycle: Customer retention based on class attendance

Sometimes, a little personalization goes a long way. SoulCycle has created a simple follow-up email that's automatically sent to participants after their first class. It's nothing fancy, but it's thoughtful and encouraging—and it just might be the thing to keep clients going back.

Soulcycle can still improve its design. Instead of all the "click here" text, the company should add some eye-catching CTA buttons, along with spot illustrations to accompany each bullet.

Wrap Up: Get started with email personalization!

The Takeaway: Send personalized, automated emails that impress and connect with your audience. And, remember these tips:

1. Collect data! You can't use it if you don't have it: dates, locations, activity/inactivity, browser or shopping history, etc.
2. Start personalizing with re-engagement, abandoned cart/registration, or up-sell campaigns.
3. Personalize subject lines, but don't stop there!
4. Try an automated campaign, instead of a one-off email.
5. Incorporate star ratings to seal the deal.
6. Keep it simple and engage readers after an event.

Feeling inspired? Design your next personalized email campaign in our easy-to-use, drag-n-drop BEE editor. No HTML knowledge is required, plus your email will be mobile responsive. Sign-up for a BEE Pro free trial!