Temperatures are up, and it's time for summer vacation! Whether it's a road trip, weekend getaway, or international adventure, many of us are getting ready for a change in scenery. We rounded up 10 vacation emails to fit the mood. So turn on your out-of-office reply and scroll down for some summery email design inspiration...
Care/Of
Subject: Travel-ready vitamins, on us
Care/Of takes a classic inverted pyramid layout approach in this bright and bold summertime email. It's simple and effective, and that CTA button really pops. This type of image can be easilyuser-generated—a great community-building tool that makes customers feel special and gives your brand a friendly, approachable vibe.
REI
Subject: You're invited to Baja
The hero image in this REI email is a real stunner. And, guess what? The copy is actually live text on top of the photo. We love this design best practice, which works especially well for a large image. Learn how to add email background images in our tutorial.
Lumosity
Subject: Meet your new travel companion
This time with motion:
The header copy and GIF really make this Lumosity email. We love it! There's also a great use of HTML background color behind the GIF to make the email body look seamlessly gray. If we had our way, we'd bump up the body text to a slightly larger font size.
Malin+Goetz
Subject: Packing for your summer getaway.
We love a good roundup list email, and this summer checklist from Malin+Goetz fits the bill. The illustration style is a break from typically photo-heavy emails, and it definitely exudes a carefree summer vibe. We also like that there's no extra descriptive text for each item. The email is certainly mobile-friendly and easy on the eyes.
Who What Wear
Subject: This under-$40 vacation dress will sell out fast
Here's the animation:
This Who What Wear email is short and sweet, which we always like. The animated text is a great example of how GIFs don't have to be complicated to be fun and effective. If the email weren't all one image, it would be more inbox-friendly, but otherwise, this sleek summer email works for us.
Need Supply Co.
Subject: Summer Travel / Take Up to 40% off
Need Supply Co. has an email with a basic single-column modular design—a great way to lay out multiple blocks of content. The text is well-formatted for easy reading—large size, ample line height, and plenty of padding—and it's delightfully minimal. Ghost buttons can be tricky on top of background images, but these are hard to miss with their generous size and their contrast against the white background.
Everlane
Subject: The Mover Pack
Here's a GIF from one of the modules:
ThisEverlaneproduct launch email is longer than most. The modules fitthe occasion, though, helping readers get a full view of the new item. This is beautifully done, and it's a perfect example of how a more complex GIF—with multiple frames displaying the product—can go a long way in helping readers understand how something works and functions. The other lovely thing about this email? Themillennial pink background color, of course!
Madewell
Subject: The anatomy of a beach outfit
There have been a few diagram-style illustrations atop images in these summer emails, and this one from Madewell stood out to us. The email hits that sweet spot of not being overly complex while still "leveling up" the photo; the email is playful and easily catches a reader's eyes. Everlane used the same technique, even though the diagramming was less cheeky and more intentional, pointing out product features. But both approaches work!
Loft
Subject: Out of office
The hero images in all of these summer emails from LOFT are so on point! This is a lesson in and of itself: when you can lead with an evocative, stunning image, half your work is done. This sky-sweet image just screams summer. And for those of us craving a vacation right about now, it's more fun to scroll down and see more photos like it than stare at our work.
& Other Stories
Subject: Beach-ready swimsuits
& Other Stories always does a nice job of arranging images in emails. We like how this grid includes a combination of product images and details, along with photos from a styled shoot.Ready to design and send your own easy breezy summer email?Sign up for a free BEE Pro trial. We have dozens of email design tutorials and vacation-themed templates to help you get started (and inspired!). Plus, the drag-and-drop tool is super easy to use. Give it a try!
