Gallery: Announcement

I love typography as art, so what better venue to have it on display than in this font newsletter by adcStudio? The large image showcasing the new font collection immediately grabbed me. The structure of the email is great, too, the contrast in layout between the different sections creates a vibrancy that keeps the reader engaged.

I imagine it’s difficult for a company who celebrates typographic diversity to use boring old web fonts, but I’m afraid they use images as text a little too frequently. A lot of important information will not be visible to readers who can’t see the images in this design, so I would definitely suggest that they use images for displaying the showcased fonts and use text as liberally as possible for the rest.

The little sketches on this email by Brand, Inc. really bring it alive. I especially like how they make it appear as if someone has happily doodled all over the email somewhat randomly. For one thing, the sketches really help lead the reader down the page.

I’m also a fan of the skinny one-column layout. The biggie of course is that this plays nicely with small mobile screens, but is also the simplest solution for controlling reading flow. I do think people are fine with scrolling these days; that old “no scrolling” thing has died, right?

That being said, I do feel that this email runs a wee long, the recipients could have dropped off before reaching the end of the email where the important call to action is. Also: those hand drawn headers are adorable, but a bit risky if images aren’t loaded, so it’s always good to ask yourself it’s worth it.

Hitting a huge style chord to announce Australia’s long-running festival, Stonefest, the crew at Inklab pulled no punches. The first thing we noticed in this campaign was the vivid, psychedelic graphics to give a groovy feel to the campaign. The festival, after all, is about rockin’ out to both local and international artists, young and old.

Highly contrasting white text jumps off the page, but not nearly as much as the extreme pink links used to direct the reader to the bands. The creation of the custom pink social networking links was also a nice touch and gives a sense to the detail involved in the design.

Of course, with highly stylized graphics, comes the reality that elements can be lost when images are blocked or turned off. As this campaign does a graceful job of degrading, some key elements such as the unsubscribe and web view links disappear. Our only suggestion would be to make those elements into text to really cement their rock-solid design. Well done!

The paintbrushed text in the header image, workshop photography and earthy colors project one concept in this email newsletter - handmade. Indeed, Johnny Grey Studios doesn’t peg themselves as your average, factory-focused kitchen manufacturer, instead pitching their brand as one that is at home with interior designers and artisans at the London Design Festival.

What we love about this email newsletter by Kerve Creative Ltd is that it doesn’t focus on the hard sell. Flashy product shots and discounted prices have been swapped for well-chosen photos of their suppliers at work, alongside commentary on the fabrication process. This creates a very personal connection with between the company and the email recipient - how much cooler is it when you actually know who is creating your kitchen, and the creative process behind it?

Finally, this isn’t an email that relies simply on visual flair to convey its message. By thoughtfully using text throughout the design, Johnny Grey Studios has created an email that’s not only a pleasure to view, but to read and act upon, even when images are blocked.

The more I look at this design for Bike for Boys and Girls Club, the more I like it. It’s simple use of three colours and subtle shades thereof, basic but effective imagery, plus short but informative content that makes this campaign a delight. It’s easy for the reader to take in everything, which in this campaign’s case, is pretty important.

Charity-based marketing is pretty difficult to get right. You want to get the message across, be subjective and raise as much money as possible, without being too pushy or sounding desperate. This email overcomes these issues by telling a positively emotive story through well-chosen images and copy and avoids the confronting ‘hard sell’, instead asking for “encouragement and support”. Of course, there are multiple prompts throughout the email to donate to Bike for Boys and Girls Club, but this has been approached in a clever fashion by allowing the reader to empathise with, then donate to the charity riders (and children), instead of the organization itself.

Overall, this is a lovely, vibrant email newsletter that gives you a real sense of the human side of this charity. With every read, you can’t help but like it more and more.

Okay, you guys are going to have to bear with me here as I gush over this email design by We Love. This design is so unique from what we normally see during our daily reviews. The magic potion theme of the email is adorably witty and the imagery is so brilliantly executed!

Often when I see an over-the-top email like this come through, it somehow fails in its execution; either due to being all images, or bad quality imagery, or it crosses some line from clever to overdone. This one is great, though! Look at those fantastic headers, and you have to click on the screenshot to see the charming touches of animation; twinkles, glows, steam and some eye blinks that officially creeped out fellow support dude JD!

Coming from the boutique app developer Happy Tapper is this appropriately cheery and friendly announcement email. The first thing to notice is the social links in the header that make it easy for people to connect with the sender.

Simple illustrations combined with the serif font give the whole email a decidedly non-technical feel that suits the company brand and sets it apart from the ultra-shiny competition. Finally, those colored and hand drawn action buttons really stand out as you scan down the page. Great work.

One of the regular complaints we hear about HTML email is “I don’t want my email all full of useless images” but of course HTML doesn’t have to mean images. Today’s gallery entry from Canadian Art is almost all text, apart from the header. Using simple font control and background colors, basic text has been made much more visually striking.

This works around the problem of images not being shown without sacrificing branding or impact. Our main suggestion would be to make the permission reminder more specific - “because you were subscribed to our list” doesn’t tell someone how they subscribed.

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.