Designing a Modern Email: Best Practices and Examples

I've seen emails with every trendy design element you can imagine: gradients, animations, complex layouts. Yet, most of them still fail at the basics. Modern email design focuses on something simpler: making sure your message gets read. That means it has to load fast, look good on any device, and work in Outlook without breaking.

TL;DR: Email Design That Actually Works

• Build for mobile first with single columns and big buttons.
• Keep text readable in both light and dark mode.
• Test in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail before sending.
• If it breaks in Outlook, fix it, as your subscribers use Outlook.

The Foundation of Good Email Design

Mobile comes first, desktop comes second

About 60% of email opens happen on mobile devices. Some industries even see 70% or higher. You need single-column layouts that flow naturally on small screens. Body text should be at least 14px, but 16px is better, while buttons need to be 44px tall minimum, or people will miss them with their thumbs.

Desktop design is just the mobile design with more breathing room. If you start with desktop and try to shrink it down, you'll end up with tiny text and buttons nobody can tap.

White space makes everything better

Cramming content into an email makes it harder to read, not easier. You need padding around sections, space between paragraphs, and margins around images. When an email feels cluttered, people close it; when it feels clean, they keep reading.

We've tested this with actual campaigns - emails with generous white space get 15-20% better click rates than packed layouts. The extra scrolling doesn't hurt engagement if the content flows well.

Typography does the heavy lifting

Your font choices actually matter more than your color scheme. Body text needs to be readable at arm's length on a phone. That means 14-16px minimum, with line height around 1.5. Headlines should be noticeably bigger, but not huge. You want contrast between elements, not a circus poster.

Stick to system fonts or web-safe options. Custom fonts look nice until they fail to load, then your carefully crafted email turns into Times New Roman. Meanwhile, Georgia, Helvetica, and Arial work everywhere. If you want something different, use it for headlines only and include a fallback.

Dark mode changes everything

Half of email users have dark mode enabled, but you have to keep in mind that Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail all handle it differently. Some invert your colors automatically, while others respect your media queries. A few do both, depending on settings.

The safe approach is to design with both modes in mind from the start. Use transparent PNGs for logos, pick background colors that work when inverted and test how your email looks when Gmail forces dark mode, because it will.

Accessibility isn't optional anymore

Every image needs alt text that describes what it shows. Links need to make sense without color cues. Your HTML should use proper heading tags, not just big bold text. Screen readers need structure to navigate.

This isn't just about compliance - about 15% of people have some form of disability that affects how they use email. When you make emails accessible, you make them work better for everyone. Clear hierarchy helps speed readers, while good contrast helps people reading in bright sunlight.

Your brand needs to show up consistently

People decide whether to open, read, or delete an email in seconds. They need to recognize it's from you immediately. Use the same header layout, colors, and tone across all your emails. Match what they see in your app or website.

But don't overdo it: a simple logo in the header and your brand colors on buttons is enough. The goal is recognition, not turning every email into a brand manifesto.

Current Design Trends (and Whether They're Worth It)

Dynamic content and personalization

Showing different content based on location, purchase history, or behavior can boost engagement, but you need fallbacks for when data is missing. A broken personalization token looks worse than no personalization at all.

The technical overhead is real. You need clean data, proper segmentation, and testing for every variation. Start simple with first name personalization and product recommendations before trying complex dynamic blocks.

Interactive elements in email

AMP for Email and CSS animations work great in Gmail and Apple Mail. You can build carousels, accordions, and even shopping carts right in the email. Engagement rates jump when people can interact without clicking through.

But Outlook users see none of it, neither do many corporate email systems. You need static fallbacks that convey the same information. If the interactive version is critical to your message, you're doing it wrong.

Illustrations and custom graphics

Custom illustrations make emails feel warmer and more human - they work especially well for onboarding, feature announcements, and holiday campaigns, but they come with tradeoffs.

File size matters. A beautiful hero image that takes 10 seconds to load on mobile data isn't helping anyone. Optimize everything. Use SVGs for simple graphics. Keep detailed images under 200KB. Test loading times on slow connections.

Minimalist and brutalist designs

Simple layouts with bold typography and limited color palettes are having a moment. They load fast, work everywhere, and feel modern. The constraint forces you to focus on message clarity.

This works best for transactional emails and product updates. Marketing campaigns might need more visual interest to stand out in crowded inboxes. Know your audience and test what resonates.

Motion and animation

GIFs still work everywhere, which makes them the safe choice for adding motion. Keep them under 1MB, loop smoothly, and make sure the first frame works as a static image. Some email clients only show that first frame.

CSS animations are smoother but have limited support and Lottie animations look amazing but need fallbacks. Use motion to enhance the message, not replace it.

The Testing Process That Actually Matters

Preview in real email clients

Don't trust your ESP's preview tool alone. Test in actual clients:

• Gmail on web, iOS, and Android
• Outlook on Windows, Mac, and mobile
• Apple Mail on Mac and iOS
• Yahoo Mail on web and mobile
• Whatever your audience actually uses (check your analytics)

Each client renders HTML differently. What looks perfect in Gmail might be completely broken in Outlook. The only way to know is to test.

Check both display modes

Open your test emails with dark mode on and off. Check forced dark mode in Gmail and Outlook mobile apps. Look for invisible text, poor contrast, and broken images. Fix what you can, accept what you can't.

Validate the technical bits

Run your HTML through a validator. Check that all links work and point to the right places. Verify alt text is present and descriptive. Test form submissions and dynamic content. Make sure your unsubscribe link works, because that's legally required.

Performance testing

Check file sizes for all images. Test loading on 3G mobile connections. Measure how long the email takes to render - if it's over 3 seconds, start cutting. Remove custom fonts, optimize images further, or simplify the layout.

Accessibility audit

Run your email through an accessibility checker and test with a screen reader if possible. Verify color contrast ratios meet WCAG standards. Finally, check that the email makes sense without images loaded.

How to Actually Build Modern Emails

Start with your goal

Every email needs a clear purpose. Welcome series? Drive a single action. Newsletter? Deliver value. Transactional? Provide information clearly. The design should support that goal, not compete with it.

Sketch the hierarchy first

Before touching code, map out what matters most. What do readers see first? What action should they take? How does the eye move through the content? A quick paper sketch saves hours of revision later.

Build mobile-first

Start with a single column at 320px wide, get the flow right, make sure everything is readable and tappable, and then expand to tablet and desktop widths. The mobile version is your foundation, everything else builds on top.

Layer in your brand

Once the structure works, add your colors, fonts, and imagery. Keep it consistent with your other touchpoints but optimized for email constraints. Your website might have parallax scrolling and video backgrounds and your email needs to load in 2 seconds on spotty wifi.

Test, measure, and iterate

Send your email to a test list. Check rendering across clients and monitor open rates, click rates, and conversions. Then see where people drop off - each campaign teaches you something about what works for your audience.

Making This Work with Bento

Our template system handles the technical requirements so you can focus on design and content. Responsive layouts work out of the box. Dark mode fallbacks are built in. The drag-and-drop editor outputs clean, tested HTML that works everywhere. You can customize everything or start from proven templates.

What is great is also that our analytics show exactly how your designs perform across different clients and devices. The deliverability tools make sure your perfectly designed email actually reaches the inbox.

Your Next Email Design

Good email design isn't about following every trend or adding every feature. Pick what serves your message and test what works for your audience. Don't forget to focus on clarity, speed, and reliability.

Start with these fundamentals - build mobile-first layouts that load fast, making typography and spacing most of the work. Then test across major email clients before sending. Once you have that foundation, you can experiment with trends that add value without breaking the basics.

The best email design is invisible. When people focus on your message instead of your layout, you've got it right.