If I asked you to name different types of art forms, what would come to mind? Graphic design, sketching and painting, perhaps? What about email or website design? Though not thought of as the funnest or most popular, both are art forms in their own rights. Like graphic design and physical artistry, a website and even an email newsletter requires strong designs and thorough research and planning. They must be balanced and should flow in a way that makes sense to the audience. If there is no thought put into either one, we’re left with a frustrated user who will either click out of the page the moment they feel unease, or not even attempt to scroll through it and risk missing out on important information.
Standing out through email
Email is a tool we’ve been using for decades, but still manage to overlook. A reason may be that with so many subscriptions and email threads, we’ve succumbed to an overcrowded inbox. But there’s a lot a company’s marketing team can do to get your target audience engaging with your content. One of the first steps is honing down on strong composition and balance.
Delivering weekly, biweekly or monthly newsletters via email is one of the best ways a brand can build a strong relationship with customers. They’re meant to grab your audience’s attention and provide them with bite-sized information. The copy should be short and engaging and the imagery should be captivating, but not overwhelming. Composition is also vital because you want the user to scroll through it seamlessly.
As a way to put this concept into action, I re-branded an email newsletter for the grocery store Trader Joe’s. Trader Joe’s currently has a e-newsletter as well as their “Fearless Flyer,” which they describe as a combination of a newsletter, catalog and comic-book. The brand has a very unique art style and is often a hybrid of real photos overlayed on old-style illustrations.
My goal was to create a clean and modern newsletter that encompassed the essence of the company while still taking their newsletter in a new direction.
The first thing I did was plan out my concept with a wireframe. Once I organized my ideas there, I created a mockup of the newsletter. Because a lot of us are guilty of quickly scrolling through their emails, I wanted to make sure to hold my audience’s attention so I started the newsletter with an engaging trivia question. By clicking on their response, it would ideally take them directly back to the website, which is where you want your online traffic to be. Next, I used colorful photos and witty copy to keep the newsletter engaging and interesting enough for users to click on. I made sure to add a call to action on every single topic to elicit a response and engagement from the recipients.
Web Design
The users engaged with your newsletter and are now on your website, so now what? The hope is that you’re able to keep them on the hook with a beautiful, balanced and well-organized website. Websites, unlike a newsletter, have more room to work with and are able to help provide a space for important information about your products. The objective is to do so while not bombarding the users with too much text and keeping them interested with a balance of copy and captivating visual elements. Like the newsletter, there should be frequent calls to actions and the user should be able to find exactly what they need without having to click around too many times.
While a huge fan of the store, I can’t say the same about the Trader Joe’s website. I don’t feel like there is consistency with the stylization, which makes it look like it was designed by many different people, instead of one, cohesive theme and tone. In my re-creation of the homepage, I made sure to address this with a clear and dynamic theme. I utilized a lot of the brand’s colors and fonts, but kept with one style— photos— versus the uneasy usage of both.
E-newsletters and websites should go hand-in-hand. They should both work in tandem to offer the audience the information they’re looking for in an engaging way. What’s important to remember is balance and flow. Keeping both at the forefront of the process will ensure that every aspect is clear to the users and allows them to flow through the content easily. Doing this will ensure the happiness of both the users and brand.