Email Design Guidelines

• Use photos that fit the content while also being uniquely Bentley, if possible. Even small hints, such as a Bentley branded mug in the background can make a difference. For exterior photos, it helps if there is a recognizable campus building or object in the frame. 

• When using stock photography, opt for images with genuine emotions, candid moments, and unique perspectives. Good photos will have a more realistic and less polished or staged feel.

• Crop your photos with consistent aspect ratios suitable for the content. 3:2 (or 2:3 for portrait orientation) is recommended. 

• Do not place large amounts of text in images.

• Research has shown that many users merely skim emails. Control this process by providing emphasis (bold or heavy font weight) in certain areas of your copy. ​

• Too much emphasis is detrimental. If you emphasize several sentences at a time, you reduce the impact of the emphasized area. Focus on single words, short phrases, or the final sentence in a paragraph instead.​

• Well-placed emphasis has an aesthetic appeal that adds to the design. ​

• Do not mix different forms of emphasis unless there is a grammatical reason to do so. ​

• Never use an underline for emphasis — this is reserved for links.​

• Good use of clear space allows your content to breath. When elements are packed in closely, the overall design can appear cluttered, making it difficult for the user to focus on the message.​

• Insufficient clear space also impacts readability, slowing down your audience and increasing the chances they will move on. The space between lines (leading) should be considered. ​

• While it's a good idea to keep a call to action above the fold, don't be concerned about an increase in vertical scrolling.​

• In addition to clearspace throughout your content, keep the email margins in mind. A good design keeps text at least 30 pixels (px), or equivalent, away from the boundaries of the email body. ​

• A newer feature in email is dark mode. There are a few ways to control dark mode programmatically, though support in various email clients (applications such as Gmail or Outlook) is mixed.​

• Often, an email client will supply its own subjective rules for what dark mode is, making it difficult to control the user experience. ​

• You can take advantage of dark mode by designing with it from the beginning. ​

• An email that does not account for dark mode runs the risk of becoming inaccessible as some colors shift, while others remain the same.  

• Many email applications (including Anthology) provide the tools and coding necessary to automatically make a simple email responsive. ​Make your email responsive to give the user the best experience possible regardless of the device they're using. 

• Mobile doesn't have to be secondary to a desktop experience. For example, if you're emailing a young alumni audience at an event where you expect high mobile use rates, create specific content for phones that is otherwise hidden on a desktop. ​

• A good responsive design allows you to build a wider email on desktop. There is no longer a one-size-fits-all best practice email width of 580px or 600px, though you can still do that for simplicity.

Before working on an email, you may want to familiarize yourself with the University's brand guidelines. 

• When choosing a lockup to include, typically you'll want to go with one designed to work in a horizontal format that can be placed in the header or footer of your email.

• Choose brand colors that work with your content. 

• Use the font "Arial" for your body copy. 

  • For developers: you can use the appropriate brand font for body copy as long as "Arial" is part of the font stack.