Email template
design

What good email template design looks like

Good email template design is mostly invisible. The email loads quickly, the text is large enough to read on a bus, the button is easy to tap with a thumb and the logo looks right whether the reader uses light or dark mode. Customers don't think about any of that. They just read the email and click.

Bad templates get noticed for the wrong reasons. Most problems come from treating an email like a web page. Email clients are far more limited than browsers, and each one has its quirks. A template has to be built for the weakest of them, then improved for the rest.

Structure of a reusable template

I build templates as a set of blocks you can stack in any order:

• Header with your logo, sized for retina screens and prepared for dark backgrounds.
• Opening block with a headline, a short paragraph and an optional photo.
• Content blocks: one column of text, image and text side by side (stacking on phones), cards for products or services.
• Call to action as a real button made of code, not an image, so it shows even with images blocked.
• Footer with your business name, mailing address, contact details and unsubscribe link, as CASL requires.

Once this master exists, a newsletter or announcement takes minutes to assemble. The same blocks power your newsletters, promotional sends and automated flows, so everything looks like one brand.

Built for phones, tested where it matters

Most people open marketing email on a phone, so I design for a narrow screen first. Single columns, generous spacing, body text around 16 pixels and buttons at least as tall as a fingertip. On desktop the layout widens a little but doesn't try to look like a website.

Before handing over, I send test emails to real accounts: Gmail on Android and iPhone, Apple Mail, desktop Outlook and Outlook on the web. I check light and dark mode, images on and off, and what the preview text says in the inbox list. Anything that breaks gets fixed in the master, not patched in one email.

Branding without overdoing it

Your email should look like your website and your shop sign, but it doesn't need every brand element at once. Two colours, one font family (with safe fallbacks, since many clients don't load web fonts), your logo and a consistent photo style are usually enough. If your brand itself needs work first, that's a visual identity job, and I'd do it before the template rather than after.

For businesses serving Quebec, keep in mind that French emails are generally expected there. I write and build templates in English, so French versions would come from your own team or translator.

Accessibility and deliverability

An email that is one large image fails twice: screen readers can't read it, and spam filters tend to trust it less. I keep real text in the email, write alt text for every meaningful image, and check colour contrast. These are the same principles behind website accessibility and they cost nothing extra when built in from the start.

The template's code also stays light. Heavy emails can get clipped by Gmail, which hides the footer and the unsubscribe link behind a 'view entire message' link. That's bad for readers and bad for compliance.

Which platform?

I build templates in Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Brevo and other common tools, or as hand-coded HTML for platforms that accept it. If you're still choosing, my notes on email platforms cover which one suits which business. The template stays in your account and belongs to you, like everything else I build. For the bigger picture of what to send and when, start with my email marketing services overview.