Elevate Your Marketing Emails with Email Graphics + Examples

How important are visuals in email design? Let’s just say adding them isn’t just an aesthetic choice but a proven strategy for boosting engagement. 

In fact, recent data tells us that emails with graphics achieve a click-to-open rate of 11.22% compared to just 4.58% for plain-text emails.

Effective email design doesn’t just grab attention, but guides the reader’s eye, reinforces your brand identity, and supports your marketing goals, whether you’re promoting a product, sharing news, or nurturing leads. 

That’s where graphic design services – particularly email design services – come in. They can set you apart from competitors, making your emails more memorable and helping your business stay top-of-mind.

In this blog, we’ll show you some email graphics examples to inspire your next campaign.

Elements of Email Design

1. Branding

If you don’t integrate the most essential part of email design, your subscribers will not remember your email. Branding is a key element in the best email designs. You need to add your logo, fonts, and colors to the design. Most email marketing software will let you customize your emails before sending them to your subscribers!

2. Headings

The headings are one of the most essential parts of email design. This lets your readers skim through the email and let them know what you’re discussing or promoting. The headings can be a different color or font (or both!). Either way, ensure that it’s consistent with your branding.

3. Layout

An email design layout is pretty much just a rectangle with various grid-like elements where you add the email content. The rectangular layout is used because it is where people read the email (smartphone or desktop). You can change the layout, such as how to arrange the content or where you add media.

4. Media

Images are the most common media added to any email. It’s best to use your brand’s image standards and email marketing graphics to maintain consistency. However, if you don’t have that yet, don’t sweat it. You can use free stock images or read guides on AI email marketing tools to learn how to use it for your campaigns. You can also use graphics, like graphic design or illustrations.

Videos are also good media content to add to your email. It can engage your subscribers. Plus, it will promote your business.

5. Call to Action

The final element in any email design that you SHOULD NEVER forget to add is the call to action. This is a button that your subscribers usually click to make your campaign successful. A call to action button can be contrasted with your branding colors to make it stand out. Or, it can be just a link that stands out from your other written content.

Types of Graphics to Add to Your Email

1. Branding Assets

A must-have in email design is branding assets. After all, you’re doing email marketing, and like other marketing strategies, your brand should take center stage. To do that, you need to add the following to your emails:

• Logo
• Colors
• Typography
• Icons
• Photos
• Illustrations

Not to mention, you want to ensure brand consistency since you’re trying to reach different audiences on various platforms. Your email design is no exception. And if your email design has similar branding assets to your website, social media, and other platforms, you can give users a seamless experience.

2. Photos

Images, whether stock images or branded ones, are one of the most common email graphics businesses use. For this one, you should consider investing in a pro photographer to produce high-quality images for your brand. However, if you don’t have the budget for professional photography just yet, stock images are a great alternative.

However, high-quality photos are ideal for eCommerce businesses. This can entice subscribers to visit your website and learn more about your product.

3. Graphic Design Assets

Give your images or photos an upgrade by editing and adding other graphic elements to them. You can do these by using filters and adding typographical elements or icons. You can reuse these assets on your website or email for campaigns. Or, you can edit various pictures and use a common motif or theme to keep it consistent.

4. Illustrations

Your website and social media pages aren’t the only graphics you can add illustrations to. Emails are another platform to show off your creativity with illustrations. Plus, by using illustrations, you can stand out from the crowd, and your company will be easily recognized. 

Although illustrations are popular email graphics, one way to take it up a notch is by adding 3D illustrations to your email designs instead. It’s a more compelling visual to engage your subscribers and entice them to visit your website.

5. Motion Graphics

The last graphic to add to your emails is motion graphics. GIFs and animations are the two best examples of these graphics. Most email design editors allow you to embed GIFs or animations onto the email with their drag-and-drop feature.

With GIFs, you can use meme GIFs you can search for online. Alternatively, you can use a GIF maker to animate different pictures into a moving image. Meanwhile, with animations, you might require the help of an animation designer.

You can view motion graphics created by Penji designers here!

6. Icons

Adding appeal and clarity, icons offer many benefits to your email graphic design. They break up text, make your content more engaging, and help convey complex ideas quickly. You can customize icons to align with your brand’s style, thus reinforcing your brand identity even more. They also improve the user experience by making your emails more interactive and navigable. In addition, well-placed icons can draw attention to vital sections and make them look more polished and professional.

7. Infographics

Using infographics is an excellent way to make your email graphic design more visually appealing. They present complex information in an easy-to-understand and more engaging format. Infographics blend text, images, and other design elements to express information clearly. They can highlight key statistics, break down processes, or compare options. Furthermore, they can make your emails more attractive and easily digestible.

Examples of Email Designs

1. Apple

One excellent example of branding in email design is Apple. You can count on the company regarding branding consistency across all platforms, from websites to emails. 

You can see the logo on the upper left portion of the email. But it’s not their logo that gives this the Apple vibe. They use their custom typography on the email design. Plus, they added icons that you’ll see on their website too.

2. On

Next in our list of email design inspiration for marketing campaigns is this example from On. Ecommerce businesses can experience challenges when designing emails. For one, you want to present your best product on the header. Plus, you want to promote other products in the rest of the email.

Like On, make sure you post a high-quality image on the header. In their case, they used three photos. And it appears as a progression before the runner starts the race. Plus, if you scroll down the email, they also feature other products. You don’t want to overwhelm the subscribers by putting too many images in one email. Instead, you can feature relevant pieces or products.

3. Winc

We are familiar with grid-like structures in emails, which are typical of free email templates. That’s why most email designs contain rigid, square, or rectangular figures. But you can add variety and contrast to your email design using email graphic design like this one from Winc. You can edit an image, modify it into a different shape, and make it even more compelling by including enticing typography.

4. Robinhood

Here’s an email design example using illustrations. Robinhood is a known financial services company. You might expect illustrations of graphs, charts, or money. Instead, they added an illustration of people in a futuristic setting. 

It’s how you can introduce new subscribers to your brand. It suggests that when you are part of their community, expect that like-minded and forward-thinking individuals’ll surround you. And it implies exclusivity, too, since you have joined their group. Plus, you can keep the tone of your overall branding through colors. Green hues are prominent in the illustration, signifying money or investments.

5. Designmodo

Check out this 3D illustration example from Designmodo, which shows how to design an email in a simple yet effective way. Aside from modernizing or leveling up your email graphics, 3D illustrations can be captivating. As an added bonus, make your 3D illustration “move” like Designmodo’s. You can indicate movement with body language, lines, or tilts.

6. A24

If you want to create an engaging email, GIFs or motion graphics are your best bet. And if you need inspiration, here’s an email from A24. Then, once subscribers open their email, they’re greeted with a copy and GIF of pages being turned. This is one example of giving subscribers a glimpse of a product you’re promoting. 

7. Headspace

Another way to show your brand’s personality is through animation like this one from Headspace. Animation is a great medium to demonstrate how your product or service can work wonders for your users or subscribers. Plus, you can personalize your animation by using custom illustrations to make your brand unique.

The Bottom Line

When used strategically, email graphics can make your campaigns more powerful, engaging, and results-driven. They can help simplify complex messages, add personality to your brand, and create a visual flow that encourages readers to click. Whether you use custom illustrations, branded banners, or dynamic GIFs, the right visuals can set your emails apart in a crowded inbox.

If you need help with email design and want to increase your click-through rates, you can partner with a graphic design service like Penji to help you out!

Designing an email is a challenge, but with Penji, we will make it a breeze for you. All we need is your design brief, and the designers will get to work on your email design. Check out our portfolio to see what we can do for your business.

So, if you want to give Penji a try, subscribe here, or enjoy a 30-day money-back guarantee!