We live in an exciting time for computer graphics. Designers are as willing as ever to experiment and show just how good they are. More remarkably, companies are willing to try their creations. We see explosions of ideas and trends. Some of the designs fill one with wonder.

You probably think there’s an however coming, and you’re right. The multitude of design trends brings with it problems for those of us who need to target marketing emails and websites. Graphic art can be divisive. Some attract some while repelling others. How can we know which design innovations to follow?

The answer is both simple and depressing; you should avoid them for anything to do with email marketing. 

I’m not suggesting that you centre all type with images in the middle of pages. Be modern by all means, please do, but ensure designs do what we need them to. I love fluid type, especially the way it can cascade across the screen, but its message is often lost, other than that of being cool.

Design can, of itself, be a message. Fractured type, with its clever arrangement, is saying ‘I’m modern and cutting edge’, but the words are lost. It is not scannable.

There are other ways of appearing modern. Colour, for instance, comes in fashion waves, and various shades appeal to different people at different times. You need to keep up with trends.

This is where you need to use email marketing templates with a degree of inspiration, although thankfully not too much. A template is a base, a foundation on which to build. Most of the structure is there, but it needs dressing.

The three things to experiment with are typeface, images and, as already mentioned, colour. This might not seem much, but you can change the whole appearance of a marketing email by going from Times to Verdana, or from a vibrant red banner to a cool blue one.

Your email marketing templates are perfect for changing. Keep the basic layout by all means, but alter it to ensure it will attract your target audience. Nothing is sacred apart from it being scannable.