With Valentine's Day just around the corner, our inbox is brimming with pink-tinted, heart-littered emails. And sure, while the color schemes are a bit conventional, we're still swooning over these festive, creative email designs. After all, Valentine's Day is a pretty big holiday, and gift-giving isn't just for romantic partners: brands are reminding readers that even their pets, friends, co-workers, and selves might deserve a little lovin' come February 14th. The National Retail Federation predicted U.S. consumerswould spend an average of $136.57 on the holiday in 2018—no small amount! So it makes sense we're seeing brands pulling out all the stops for this year's Valentine's Day email designs. So go ahead, feel the love, and get inspired for your own V-Day campaign!
#1. Draper James
Subject: xoxoLast year, we scoped out the GIF-scape of Valentine's Day email designs. It was an animated inbox affair. This year, one of the most creative designs we've spotted so far features—you guessed it—a stellar animated GIF.
And here's a look at the GIF in context of the message layout—
It's simple and cute and oh-so-clever. And with, well, literally everyone we know sending texts, the messaging is relatable. Well done, Draper James.
#2. Tattly
Subject:Wear Our Hearts on Your Sleeve With this New Tattly Set!Red typeface is not something we see every day, but look how well it works in this beautifully laid out email from Tattly.
Plus, there's one special section of the navigation menu that gets a touch of movement. What a perfect way to catch our eye:
#3. TOMS
Subject: Limited Edition Watercolor Heart Classics
We love the watercolor effect of these cute illustrations in a TOMS email (and their shoes!)
#4. Mejuri
Subject: The FinestWe love the breezy elegance of this email from fine jewelry brand Mejuri. The extra padding between content blocks, super simple text blocks, custom buttons, and alternating photo layout definitely inspire. And while Mejuri opts for image-based text blocks to showcase its brand font, switching to a similar email-friendly font would allow them to optimize the email design and even overlay live text atop that hero image (here's our tutorial!).
#5. ban.do
Subject: for all your valentinesThis whimsical email from ban.do packs plenty of eye candy in a small amount of space. All the little touches—like a joyous header, bright background color, and squiggly text—make this email especially festive.
#6. Papyrus
Subject: Share the ♥, Send some ♥, Give your ♥All the textures and layers in this Papyrus email call to mind the quirky content block trend we wrote about during Thanksgiving. It's the opposite approach of more streamlined emails, like the one from Mejuri above, but it works in its own right. Choosing a design that works for you depends a lot on your brand's visual identity, your audience, and how you want the reader to feel when they open your email. While the calm structure of the Mejuri email might soothe and inspire, the full-to-the-brim Papyrus email might excite and inspire.
#7. Paper Source
Subject: Hurry! Two Day Flash Sale Is Going On NOW.Like the TOMS watercolor hearts, Paper Source uses a similar illustration style to introduce its flash sale. The hearts are animated, too—see the GIF below:
We're now noticing very simple animations in email. No doubt these GIFs take up less space than their cinemagraph cousins while still adding a touch of delight.
#8. Mark & Graham
Subject:Our Valentine's Day Gift Guide is Here!
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️Valentine's Day just isn't Valentine's Day without candy hearts. Here, Mark & Graham uses the sweet and sassy candies to introduce its gift guide. And pro tip: if you're in a pinch for time, a background image like this can be found in a free stock photo libraryand customized! (Plus, in BEE, you can position the image in the background, adding your custom header text and bulletproof CTA button on top).
#9. Terrain
Subject: Succulent sweethearts to give + grow.We had to include this email from Terrain because of how green and glowing it is! Not all valentine emails need to be pink.
#10. Reformation
Subject: I'M NOT ME WITHOUT YOU...Then again, we never said we had anything against pink. We love the simplicity of this email from Reformation. It's essentially just an email that alternates images (of different sizes and shapes) with one-liners of text, but the end result is sophisticated.
#11. & Other Stories
Subject: Everything goes pink | New SALE styles addedCheck out this epic photo grid from & Other Stories! By choosing all images with a white background and maintaining consistent padding between each photo,the grid looks totally elegant and inspiring. (To do it in BEE, choose a two-column layout and/or the structure blocks you like, then layer images till you're happy!)
#12. Paper Culture
Subject: Love is in the airThis is a classic email structure from Paper Culture, and there's nothing wrong with that! In fact, we recommend keeping a few email templates on hand for consistency and to simplify your workflow.
#13. Artifact Uprising
Subject: 50 years of marriage, one meaningful bookWhile we don't believe emails should resemble websites, sometimes emails do tell a story, and this one from Artifact Uprising is a perfect example. We like how the large font size, the evocative color scheme, and the numbered tips and headers make this email a pleasure to read or skim. It's well-organized and structured, which is what you want from a message that stretches onlike this one does. This email is pretty stunning.
Bonus!
Of a Kind
Subject: Don’t ForgetOne last dose of inspiration! Here's another example of how a little movement (via GIF) can create interest—and also showcase products. There's a lot to love about this dynamic grid from Of a Kind!
Valentine's Day Email Templates
Looking for Valentine's Day email templates for your next campaign? There are many professionally-designed, mobile-responsive, fully editable templates in our email template catalog.
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