We’re definitely “feeling the love” with this design from Studio Bomba for their stationary branch, Mitchell and Dent. Not only is the design nicely done, but one should really take a moment to experience the playful copy as well. Peppered with captivating images, the layout is both airy and light which provides ample spacing for the content as well as a convenient table of contents. A nice addition would be to bump up the font size a point or two and really show off the lyrical brilliance.

We also enjoyed the purposeful way Mitchell & Dent integrated the unsubscribe and forward pieces into the theme of the email. “Share the love and forward to a friend”. Being standard elements for an email, its easy to overlook the fact that these can be fun and engaging to the reader as well.  Overall, a fun and well thought out piece!

Using some design queues gleaned from our very own case studies, the creative tribe over at Carbon have come up with a very simple and effective email. First off, we really liked the fact they went for bold use of text instead of using images. The bright, purple title expresses the fact Carbon has a new look, simply put. Then, as a way to visually mimic the “de-emphasizing” of the text in question, the second part of the message is simply, light gray. A brilliant use of typography! Following, they give a short bit about their work including clear links and some vital contact information all the way to the footer. To sum it up in the words of the Carbon folks - “Bam!  There you go”!

Feast your eyes on this stylish email by Wordplay Media. The layout is brilliant, with just enough photos to keep it interesting and color blocks to organize an otherwise, quite lengthy, email. Along with the large headers, the blocks of color create a richness that is not only functional, but easy on the eyes as well.

We especially liked the small touch with the 3D-like footer image at the end of each section. It brings a nice separation while giving a kick to the content block.  The only thing we would have changed here would be to have the headers in actual text and separate them from those images. When images are turned off, the headers go away.  Overall, the email degrades with excellent grace.

Moving down to the end, the footer is quite nice with the Forward and Unsubscribe information being very clear and sized well.  They even saved room for a permission reminder in that small box.  All in all, this email by Wordplay is well thought out packing tons of information and creativity into a great campaign.

This very sleek and stylish email campaign from Australian design studio Buro North is the absolute epitome of cool in my opinion; from the dark, alluring background coupled by its ‘white noise’ surround and sexy blue highlights, I feel like I’m walking into an elite underground club filled with supermodels and celebrities every time I open up my email client. It’s that seductive.

The background image is complimentary yet untroubling; the text is fashionably small yet legible; the design contains a good amount of whitespace yet is not wasteful, and images are employed sparsely but to great effect.

I see a lot of campaigns employing a simple, minimalistic style, and I happen to like this approach a lot, however many start to look the same after a while, however Buro North have really nailed this email design ‘genre’ here, creating a dramatic, calming and creative campaign which speaks volumes about them as a design studio, even before you read the first word of their content.

While sifting through campaigns the other day, the interesting color scheme of this email newsletter from Savvy.je caught my eye. The combination of teal and maroon is not something you see everyday and really makes this email stand out from the rest.

The application of these colors is not used sparingly, but that really works well for the design. The news items are boxed out by solid columns of alternating colors, making each news snippet clear and easy to read. Additionally, the columns come close to covering the entire height of the campaign itself, which gives the campaign a very solid, rigid look.

Roar! This campaign from The Lethals will wake you up. It’s loud, it’s proud and it gets in your face—in a good way, of course.

The campaign was designed by fellow table tennis enthusiasts INKLAB for their client, a mean funk band from Canberra, Australia.

The first thing you notice is the roaring lion in that awesome illustration. It opens up the campaign with a bang, screaming "Read me!". If your email client doesn’t support background images, you may not get to see the lions, but you won’t miss any of the news the band has for you. The main message is all HTML text.

The limited color scheme reinforces the band’s illustrative theme, as seen through their online presences, and the simple layout makes it quick and easy to devour. Even with foreground images suppressed, the campaign still hold ups nicely.

We thought this campaign for Like.ie was pretty cool. The text is big and well spaced, making it easy to read and the colors are soft and are gentle on the eye. Although the campaign does pass when images are suppressed, we feel that having the call to action buttons as images can be a bit risky if they disappear completely when no alt text is assigned. That said, the phone numbers and the subscribe and visit our website links at the bottom are still visible if a subscriber wants to know more. Overall, a nice design.

What really caught our eye with this campaign from Propel Youth Arts by Papercut Media was the navigation. The content split up into respective blocks that are linked from the menu to the left of the opening content. Easy to get back to the start too so you don't get lost. The bold blue colour helps the reader to distinguish the content areas. The iconography associated to each area is quite a nice touch too.

A couple of considerations for this template would be to look at using text for the navigation rather than images. As when images are disabled, it's not totally clear there is navigation available. Also, a permission reminder at the very top of the campaign wouldn't go amiss. Just to show who it's from and why, as the brands only noticeable if the images are enabled.

Overall though, a nice looking campaign that is easy to read and navigate.

After reviewing a mass of campaigns recently, we thought this email from Sevell + Sevell Inc. was quite memorable. The first thing we noticed was the bold date and use of typography for the header. Yes, that date “IS” all text and looks just as good when the images are turned off. Kudos for not using a graphic here! Immediately, your eyes are then drawn to the bold sections of color that organize the content. Those clever, little titles and the brief bits of information to keep the email short, are spot on. However, we would have liked to see those titles as text to keep their punch when images are not supported.

Lastly, we turn our attention to their footer. To keep a personal connection to their recipients, Sevell go straight for a friendly laugh with their unsubscribe link. Brilliant! Not only is it memorable, but we all can relate to it! Great use of typography, color and a bit of shock value at the end, Sevell have created themselves an excellent campaign.

This email from 360 Design Studios is a smart and focused case study campaign and gets many things right that I’d like to highlight.

It starts off on a good note with a prominent permission reminder message, although being more specific about the sign up procedure would make the reminder much more effective. Next is a concise combination of a web version link and suggestion to add the sender to the address book, to help work around image blocking.

While the structure and message of the email won’t fall apart even without images, the inviting photos really help bring the success story to life. This is all topped off with an eye catching and convincing client testimonial, and finally a single, clear call to action.

This template has such a nice, warm personable feel to it. Email Jam have done well to carry the Woodie & Morris tone and brand throughout the campaign. As the site wasn't available at the time the campaign was sent, the call to action was to invite the subscribers to visit the shop using the incentive of a preview evening before a sale. A great & clever way to treat their subscribers and make them feel special, which I'm sure worked well.

There are many little attentions to detail that make this template for me. The torn paper effect between content blocks; the stitching around the Forward to a friend button. The imagery used is subtle but clear and the number association between text description and product photo is a nice touch.

All in all, a simple and highly effective template that ticks many boxes. And given a consistently high open rate, the all important subscribers must think so too!

This newsletter from AAPA Architetti Associati Pasini Agoston is a study in contrast. A dark gray background allows the white headlines and bright photography to pop and the medium gray text is still compelling, but allows the other elements to catch your eye first. Two columns allow information to flow in a uniform manner as well. With the left column set aside for the lesser events and links and the larger right column for the featured articles, it’s a great lesson in effective content organization and hierarchy.

I would, however, recommend they make their permission reminder more specific about how people subscribed rather than just saying the recipients are on their list. You want this to serve as a reminder of how permission was gained.

Few things bring a smile to our face like a nice, legible email, where the design doesn’t get in the way of the content. Rather than images for the titles, Sunny Thinking’s template uses a simple serif font stack, with the swirly Baskerville on top.

About halfway down, the email breaks into two columns, with a blue background color to set it apart. Saving the smallest font sizes for the narrowest columns makes for easier reading, especially on mobiles.

What initially struck us about this email by Chris Malven is the beautiful illustration and minimalist layout for a most important occasion, his own wedding reception! The ring of flowers on a brown background have a commanding presence to inspire further investigation. Just below, also contained in a circle, is the main content repeating the date and vital information. To further impress, hide the images and the email is perfect, as if graphics were not even needed. Its simple, has all the correct pieces and is brilliantly executed.

It's simple for sure, but don't call it plain. A well-spaced starting point gives this design from Rocketday a chance to show off the photography that really makes it shine. Even without images, though, gorgeous colors and ample whitespace really hold things together and give it a fabulous sense of read-ability. I really loved the great separation between articles; they flow from one to the next really well but the lines separating them making them distinct and individual. All in all a great job.

I absolutely love this design from Style Campaign. Not just for the design, although with the bright pops of pixelated colors and cheerful PacMan imagery, it has it in spades. No, I love this campaign in part for the geek factor. In addition to being stunningly designed it’s absolutely genius when it comes to coding. Using absolutely no images it’s an utter marvel of email design, but it’s still light enough code-wise (just 14k) to bypass spam filters and get past Gmail’s 100k limitations, not to mention be swift to load on the plethora of mobile clients out there. No small feat!

The CSS3 drop shadows on the text were an added bonus as well; they added a richness in those browsers/email clients that support it and nothing is really lost in those clients that don’t. It’s great seeing a campaign that brings some new ideas to the table and isn’t afraid of using code that isn’t fully supported. Can’t let the Lotus Notes and Outlooks of the world stop us all the time, sometimes you just have to experiment!

It could just be hunger talking, but I think this email is absolutely delicious! Soothing colors, primarily in white with dark gray text, it just makes the red in the logo and the links pop and really kicks it up a notch. It also gives a nice neutral background to let the photography, admittedly the star of the show, shine.

Ample whitespace throughout also means that everything is spaced nicely, so it flows beautifully and elements aren't bumping up against each other. I would, however, caution them to watch out for URLs as link text, don't want any phishing warnings popping up.

The gentle colors, pretty graphics, and simple layout of this email from Epic Agency for Quatuor makes for a very pleasing email. I especially like the blue-leafed tree overhanging the content and the selective blue on blue highlighting. The email could use less graphic-based text in the header and the left-hand side and I’d like to see the unsubscribe text bumped up a size or two, but overall this pretty design hits the mark.

I really like the unusual layout of this email designed by s8080, especially the way the map graphic is burning into the main content and the way the free floating secondary content is flanking the middle column. The three color bar background is so interesting and provides a foundation for the important links on the left hand side. The nice narrow column always helps with readability, too. Super cool job on this one.

The first thing that struck me about this email by Six Degrees The Agency was the rich color scheme. That big field of gorgeous deep brown makes the rest of the colors really pop and the whole feel of the design is in keeping with the nature theme of the Treeline brand. I love the details that help tie the whole thing together - the ripped edge treatment around the images and the adorable logo (which was designed by Lara Clarke of the Sunshine Coast Council), the horizontal rules and the leaves in the header and footer. Finally, the nice simple layout makes for a very scannable email.