Minimalist email design: Principles, examples, and how to build one that converts

When embarking on their email campaigns, budding marketers often try to cram their messages with lots of visuals, CTAs, and text columns. They believe that the more graphics and copy they include, the more impactful the emails are. In contrast, seasoned email marketing experts realize that brevity and cleanliness of the message can work wonders.

This article defines minimalist email design, outlines its benefits and foundations, explores its peculiarities and a roadmap for implementation, and provides examples of minimalist messages from leading brands. 

Key takeaways

1. Minimalist email design relies on simplicity and the use of only basic elements.
2. Minimalist emails have an edge over traditional messages with multiple columns and numerous pictures requiring horizontal scrolling or pinching, because they load faster and don’t overwhelm the reader with excessive information. 
3. The core principles of minimalist email design are plenty of white space, a limited color palette, a clear visual hierarchy, no-frills typography, one primary visual, concise copy, and one prominent CTA.
4. To make minimalist emails mobile-friendly, you should leverage a single-column layout, lightweight images, and a thumb-accessible CTA.
5. You should prioritize rich-media designs over minimalism in emails informing about product launches, eCommerce campaigns, and luxury goods.

What is minimalist email design?

Whether we talk about minimalist email newsletter design or minimalist email signature design, the underlying idea remains the same: simplicity reigns supreme. Instead of distracting and overwhelming the recipient with superfluous content, proponents of minimalist design leave only essential elements in emails, focusing the reader’s attention on what is vital and achieving a clean, elegant, and concise look.

Why minimalist email design works

The success of minimalist design lies both in human psychology and in the technical characteristics of such emails. By eliminating clutter and a multitude of competing messages, designers improve email readability, emphasize the most crucial information, and make the CTA more prominent.

Moreover, clean, simple messages are a hallmark of professionalism, sophistication, and modern aesthetics that contemporary consumers value. On the technical side, minimalist emails load faster, ensuring a superb experience for recipients.

How does it differ from traditional (a.k.a. decorative) email design?

Let’s dive into the rules of creating minimalist emails.

The best practices of minimalist email design

There are 8 basic principles of minimalist email design:

1. Maximize white space. This area (often called negative space) is intentionally left blank to provide breathing room for the content. It enables the reader to focus on the main message naturally.
2. Limit your color palette. The rule of thumb is two or three complementary colors consistent with your brand identity. 
3. Establish a clear visual hierarchy. Use large fonts for headlines, smaller fonts for the core text, and bold key points within it to help the reader navigate the email effortlessly.

   You might also like

   Creating visual hierarchy in your email design
4. Keep typography clean and legible. Intricate typefaces look fancy, but they hamstring legibility. Don’t sacrifice clarity for embellishment. 
5. Use imagery sparingly. No more than a single, high-quality hero image that serves a specific marketing purpose (not just decoration).
6. Write concise, focused copy. A few short sentences or a succinct bulleted list will do the job.
7. Make the CTA prominent. Tell the recipient exactly what to do, and make the CTA button stand out conspicuously.
8. Keep essential elements. Headers, footers, social media icons, contact info, and compliance notices are non-negotiable, even in the minimalist design. They guide the reader’s eye, protect your brand trust, show people how to get in touch with you, and satisfy legal criteria.

Minimalist email design and mobile

All of the above-mentioned minimalist design fundamentals work for mobile-friendly emails, too. What you should emphasize is:

1. Single-column layout. Multi-column grids break, shrink, or lump together on small displays.
2. Plentiful white space. Clear margins around the text or images are mission-critical.
3. Readable typography. Opt for Arial or Helvetica, with body text at a minimum of 14 px and headings at 20+ px.
4. Lightweight images. Avoid heavy graphics or minimize them. A clear alt text for every image is a must.
5. Thumb-friendly CTA. It should be at least 44 by 44 px so that the recipient can tap it easily.

You might also like

Mobile-first email design: How to build emails people actually read on their phones

Accessibility and dark mode in minimalist emails

Dark mode is one more issue to pay close attention to. To help it render well in minimalist design, avoid pure black or white, and mute the saturation of other colors. Use shades of gray and off-white for text and backgrounds, respectively, to prevent eye fatigue and reduce harsh color inversions in dark mode.

Drop shadows are also out of the question because they are lost on dark surfaces. All CTAs should have a visible border so they don’t disappear against the dark background, and make sure your standard text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1; for large text and UI elements, WCAG requires 3:1 to keep within accessibility guidelines.

Guide

Guide on email and web accessibility

 

As you can see, minimalist email design has certain niceties. But is it worth the effort performance-wise?

Does minimalist design actually perform better? 

A/B tests are the best tool for assessing the efficiency of minimalist emails. 

How to test minimalist vs. design-heavy emails

Divide your audience into two random segments and send minimalist emails to one and traditional emails to the other. Both emails should have identical core messages, subject lines, and preheaders, with design being the only variable.

While analyzing performance, you should look beyond open rates, conversion rates, and CTRs. Why? Minimalist emails can generate stronger engagement when their simpler structure makes the message easier to understand and act on. Other aspects to consider are deliverability and recipient context (device type on which the email is opened, the time of opening, the recipient’s recent behavior, etc.). 

When minimalism loses

Despite the benefits of minimalist design, there are cases when rich-media designs are a better choice:

• product launches. These require complex announcements that include feature sets (often arranged in multi-column layouts), graphical data, and interactive components;
• eCommerce campaigns. These usually feature broad collections, seasonal catalogs, and lookbooks that can’t do without vibrant imagery and structured grids;
• presenting luxury goods. While presenting these products or services, marketers aim to convey emotions and brand prestige, relying heavily on high-quality photos and immersive aesthetics that justify the premium pricing of such big-ticket items;
• audience expectations. Clientele used to magazine-style digests from the retailer might not appreciate a sudden switch to minimalist design.

All in all, when choosing between minimalist and traditional emails, you should always be aware of trade-offs. You should understand whether you need to focus on a single action with transactional clarity and no other distractions, or whether you want to appeal to aesthetic feelings and inspire exploration. Blue-chip businesses have learned to make this choice perfectly well and capitalize on minimalist email design.

Minimalist email design examples showcased

Let’s look at five examples of minimalist email design by major-league businesses.

Embracing white space

Glossier, a rising beauty industry startup, knows how to leverage negative space.

(Source: SiteProNews)

It focuses the reader’s attention on the key elements (images, headlines, and CTAs) by placing them strategically across the white space. Minimal copy, a few reviews, and nothing more keep consumers engaged. 

Contrasting basic colors

In its emails, Apple prioritizes the black background, making the high-tech accessories displayed against it look elegant and even chic.

(Source: Venture Stream)

The light-gray vs. black contrast works perfectly with concise messaging that highlights the product’s perks.

Displaying a clear CTA

Crafting minimalist emails, the popular UK-based fashion retailer Standout makes the CTA impossible to miss.

(Source: Venture Stream)

The email classifies products by size and by category and invites recipients to place an order in a couple of clicks. 

Relying on text-heavy design

Notion, a SaaS productivity platform and digital workspace, reaches out to its subscribers with minimalist emails.

(Source: ManyPixels)

No flashy images, no multitude of colors. Just a simple logo at the top and three short paragraphs of text with a checklist included in the middle. Signed by the Notion team, meticulously spaced, and featuring a conspicuous CTA. What’s not to like? 

Utilizing a single image to do the job

Sent on Friday, this promotional email from Garrett Popcorn reaches people as they decide how to spend the weekend.

(Source: Klaviyo)

The picture of a happy couple having fun in front of their TV and enjoying a traditional movie-time snack does more than lengthy explanations about why it is good. A short text underneath the photo reinforces the desire for a cozy evening with your favorite show on.

If you like how these big-time players capitalized on minimalist emails and want to follow suit, here’s how you can do it. 

How to create a minimalist email: A step-by-step guide

Creating a minimalist email is not rocket science. 

Step 1. Define a clear goal

An email should be sent to achieve only one purpose, and you should design it with this goal in mind. 

Step 2. Come up with a subject line

This should also be minimalistic, under 45 characters.

Step 3. Choose a single-column layout

No clutter, no sidebars, just plenty of white space all around the text.

Step 4. Write copy

Make it concise (no more than 100 words) and split it into short paragraphs consisting of brief sentences. A bulleted list is a viable option. Generally, it should be a headline and a few supporting statements.

Step 5. Consider styling and fonts

Choose a no-frills, legible font and a neutral, brand-consistent color scheme with one principal hue accentuated.

You might also like

Best fonts for email: Usage tips and tricks

Step 6. Be stingy with visuals

Use one primary visual whenever possible, whether it’s a GIF, photo, illustration, or logo. If you include video, keep it short and purposeful.

Step 7. Optimize for mobile

Since almost two-thirds of emails are opened on mobile devices, your emails should be not only minimalist but also responsive. Flexible layouts, readable texts, scalable images, and tap-friendly buttons are the four pillars of this design.

Step 8. Place a CTA

There should be only one, uncrowded, short, and clearly phrased CTA, such as “Download a copy,” “Get a discount,” or “Register for the webinar.” 

Step 9. Test and improve

Minimalist doesn’t mean untested and unverified. A solid email design tool provides preview and testing features to help you see how the email works across different devices and email clients. Plus, you can conduct A/B tests, experimenting with layouts, CTAs, color palettes, and other email aspects, and fine-tune them based on the results.

Creating emails from scratch is a long and tiresome endeavor. Stripo has a huge library of 1,650+ ready-made email templates to streamline the process.

Minimalist email templates to start from

What makes email templates by Stripo an extremely convenient tool in your minimalist email marketing campaigns?

1. High degree of customization. You can align fonts, layouts, colors, and images with your brand’s identity to make your emails recognizable to your subscribers.
2. Modular nature. This lets you create emails within seconds and save them to reuse across other campaigns.
   
   
   
3. Drag-n-drop operation. Even non-tech specialists can leverage the tool, making it accessible to a wide audience. Plus, there is a built-in HTML code editor, which designers with software development expertise will find handy.
4. Responsiveness. All of the tool’s email templates render well across mobile devices. Moreover, there is a dedicated mobile design mode honed specifically to produce emails for mobile devices.
5. Collaboration feature. Any authorized team member can participate in building and editing emails in real-time, comment on the process, and view version history. 
6. Global reach. One-click RTL support, robust multilingual workflows, and translation into 25 languages enable email adjustments to the specific needs of audiences in different corners of the world. 
7. Broad integration and export options. With Stripo, you can export templates to 90+ ESPs. If the platform you work with isn’t included in this roster, any email can be downloaded as an AMP or HTML file and imported manually in a split second.
8. AI-based capabilities. Artificial intelligence helps users generate email sequences, create images, and produce alt text. 

On balance, Stripo provides the features organizations need to create and launch full-scale minimalist email campaigns in a streamlined way.

Wrapping up 

Minimalist email design is about removing distractions. By focusing on one clear goal, concise copy, intentional visuals, ample white space, and a prominent CTA, you can make your message easier to scan and act on.

Still, minimalism isn’t automatically the best choice for every campaign. Test it against richer designs and let your audience, campaign goals, and performance data determine which approach works best. With the right structure and responsive design, minimalist emails can deliver a clean experience without sacrificing engagement or conversions.

FAQ

1. Is minimalist email design the same as plain-text email?

No. Although both are geared toward simplicity, minimalist design messages (unlike plain-text emails) leverage CSS and HTML for colors, fonts, and clickable buttons. Also, plain-text emails don’t contain images, which can feature in minimalist emails.

2. How many colors should a minimalist email use?

Not more than two, maximum three. The recommended background should be neutral, the text a dark hue, and the CTA bold. The colors should be aligned with the brand’s identity.

3. Do minimalist emails get better open and click rates?

There is no universal answer to this. Minimalist emails can improve click and conversion rates when their simpler structure makes the message easier to understand and act on. The best approach depends on your audience, campaign goal, and test results.

4. What fonts work best for minimalist emails?

They should be simple, large, and legible for any reader to comprehend. The most suitable ones are Arial and Helvetica. The recommended heading size is 20 px, and the body text size is 14 px. 

5. How much white space is too much?

White space is excessive when the email requires unnecessary scrolling through empty areas, when individual words or icons are isolated by large blank spaces, or when large gaps between sections disrupt the visual hierarchy.

6. Can minimalist emails still include images?

They can, but it should be only one powerful image per email, whether it is a GIF, icon, logo, or photo.

7. Does minimalist design work for every industry?

While it can be used in any sector, there are verticals where minimalist email design excels. Brief texts, clean lines, and plenty of white space are most welcome in the SaaS field, the B2B realm, and the consulting niche. In the eCommerce, fashion, hospitality, and food industries, minimalist emails should be used cautiously, since these domains benefit from vivid imagery, multiple product grids, and promotional sales banners.