One of the great advantages with an email marketing provider is the range of free email marketing templates, all of them designed and researched by professionals. When starting out, their use will cut design time to the minimum. Later on, once you’ve got your feet under the table, you will almost certainly wish to modify the design to suit your specific needs and your products. This is the first in a series of blogs to help you in redesigning the template.

The first rule of graphic design is that there are no rules in the sense that you can, and in many cases should, ignore them if the stats so dictate. Take typography. The one sure and certain rule, which should never be broken except in extremis, is that you should never, ever use Comic Sans. I consider it similar to flared trousers; stylish once, but once was enough.

The next rule is that you can use Comic Sans, but only in the metaphorical sense of wearing flared trousers. It’s permissible to do it for effect, showing a certain irony. As in both cases, you must hope that other people recognise your intent.

A graphic designer will give predictable advice on the choice of typeface in a marketing email. Always, but always, pick legibility and readability over looks. Except if you don’t want the type read. If so why is it taking up space on an email?

Do not reject a typeface just because you feel it is unfashionable. Take Times New Roman. It was designed to be easily read when used in a newspaper, where ink could fill up the letter e, making it look like a blob. It’s very readable, so don’t ignore it.

Those one aspects of irritates me; it’s an affectation done for no particular reason, and it stands out in a marketing email. I’m talking about double spacing after a full stop. It’s not required. It unbalances a line, breaking up the flow of type. It also wastes a space that can be used for text. Just don’t do it. I haven’t even demonstrated it in this blog because to do so would betray my beliefs.