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Top UI Design Tips for Email Templates in 2025
Learn How To Optimize UI for Better Engagement
Nicola Vaughan
March 26th, 2025
In 2025, we’re busier than ever.
We receive an average of 121 emails per day, resulting in most emails being skimmed as quickly as possible. In fact, 15% of all emails get less than 2 seconds of readers’ attention.
This is where email template UI design (officially known as User Interface design) can be super helpful in setting a template apart from the crowd and creating a punchy first impression.
UI design refers to the visual, interactive elements of an email. These elements can be the ticket to grabbing your audience’s focus and driving them towards a conversion.
Without a successful UI, an email won’t connect with your subscribers and will likely be forgotten at the back of an inbox.
In this help guide, we’ll teach you why creating user-friendly and visually appealing email templates is so important.
From creating visually appealing and responsive layouts (this is a must for modern email templates) to optimizing UI for better engagement, we’ll also introduce you to beehiiv – the best platform for creating well-designed email templates with UI at its core.
Table of Contents
Why UI Design Matters in Email Templates
UI design in email templates is all about grabbing attention.
You want to make your subscribers think “Hey, this email’s different!” and navigate them clearly through the content you want them to read toward a clear CTA (Call to Action).
Good UI helps to improve:
Readability: A key part of UI design is making sure your email is readable. Short sentences without complicated words/phrases and a good combination of text with white space will make your emails more readable and, therefore, easy to understand.
Engagement: Focusing on email UI can drastically affect engagement rates. Choosing interactive content and prominent CTAs within your design can make your content more dynamic and ultimately drive readers to engage with your brand.
CTR (Click Through Rates): With higher engagement rates comes an increased CTR. Drive your users towards CTA buttons and links by using a clear, fluid interface and matching fonts/colors. This will no doubt improve CTR and likely conversion rates, too.
4 Key Elements of a Well-Designed Email Template
There are 4 key elements of a well-designed email template that stand out where UI is concerned.
We’ll delve into these key elements in the next few sections to help you understand where you need to focus when building a fluid, engaging email template.
Structuring a Clean and Engaging Layout
Establishing a clean, engaging layout for your email template is a great place to start when focusing on UI design.
An email template should first and foremost be visually appealing. If it’s not, your subscribers will be turned off before they’ve even read what your email is about.
This may sound strange, but white space is one of the most underrated elements of an email template. When used in good balance with interactive elements and content, your email will look clean and professional without even trying.
You also need to consider content hierarchy when building your email template. Think about what you want your reader to see first, leading your subscribers through a journey of learning about your brand to a persuasive CTA where they can convert.
Choosing the Right Fonts and Colors
Typography and color schemes can drastically impact readability and branding -- in both positive and negative ways.
Get it right, and your audience will be drawn to your brand, clearly understanding your brand mission and hopefully leaning towards converting. Get it wrong, and your brand will come across as unprofessional or your subscribers will be confused by your general brand message.
Following brand guidelines that clearly dictate the fonts and colors that should be used in your marketing material is crucial in getting this UI element right. Make sure your colors work well together and that your font reflects professionalism and synergy with your brand identity.
Using High-Quality Visuals
A well-designed email template will always contain high-quality visuals, but what are the best ways to use images and icons to enhance UI?
Here are some of my go-tos when adding high-quality visuals to emails:
Keep icons simple and consistent: Don’t overcomplicate icon designs and make sure they’re consistent with one another. For example, if one icon is black and white, don’t make your next icon in color. Consistency will make your email template more uniform and easy to read.
Balance images with text: Make sure you have a good combination of images and text. If your emails are too image-heavy, your readers may not understand the intent behind your email. If they’re too text-heavy, your email will be overwhelming. The perfect balance of images, text, and white space is the best formula for a great UI.
Consider image size: Optimizing your images in terms of file type and size can make all the difference when it comes to ensuring that your images load correctly. If your images are too large, they could affect the whole visual of the template, so it’s worth compressing them when building a template.
Thinking about the effectiveness of your CTA buttons can significantly improve CTR and conversion rate.
Here are some points to think about with CTA buttons:
Placement: Make sure your CTA buttons are placed regularly throughout your template in a prominent space with a contrasting background. This will draw your readers’ eye and make them more likely to click.
Color Psychology: Different colors shape how humans perceive and behave. This can be a highly useful concept within an email template where CTAs are concerned. For example, a red CTA button may evoke feelings of urgency and excitement, while blue CTAs may instill trust and security.
Conversion Copywriting: Using persuasive language that is geared towards conversion can have a positive effect when used within CTA buttons. Phrases such as “Buy Now!” or “Start Quote” show intent and allow subscribers to quickly see how they can interact and convert with your brand.
My Favorite Email Template UI Designs
Let’s take a look at some of my top email templates for UI design. Each of these designs prioritizes user journey, readability, and CTAs to build an interactive, readable email focused on conversion. Let’s take a look!
Moonpig: Colors and Contrast
This email template from internet-based greeting card business Moonpig is a great example of how using contrasting colors can make all the difference to readability.
The dark blue background makes the ‘Spread a little kindness’ heading pop with contrasting blue text again on a white background further down. I also love their simple, red CTA ‘Shop Cards’ -- this is impossible not to notice, particularly alongside the 50% off discount code placed above the CTA.
With beautiful graphic imagery of their cards and gifts, plus eye-catching colors and CTAs, Moonpig has smashed this email template.
Fabulous: Persuasive Language and CTAs
The Fabulous self-care app is another company that always impresses me when it comes to their email templates.
This example is just one of their great emails that prioritizes persuasive language and dominant CTAs, with a striking free 30-day premium pass offered as soon as you open the email.
They include reassuring messaging such as ‘End your membership at any time,’ and mention some top reviews, too.
I also love the clear brand messaging around self-care. I know exactly what to expect from this brand, and they always nail it.
Cult Beauty: White Space Perfection
Next up is an email template I love from online beauty retailer Cult Beauty.
In this example, they’ve shown how effective white space can be with bold black text and dominant imagery against a pristine white background.
This color contrast makes the content of the e-shot super crisp and clear, especially with the emphatic ‘NEWS FLASH!’ getting your attention at the top of the email template.
Cult beauty has also used interactive content really well here with a video showing their new setting spray in action and clear CTAs throughout, guiding users back to their website to make a purchase.
ANSWR: Imagery and Branding
Another email template that caught my attention was the one from home-salon beauty brand ANSWR.
The above-the-fold content of this template shows off the brand’s packaging and brand colors with a striking orange that is impossible to miss.
This design tells me that ANSWR is super proud of its branding and wants it to be noticeable to its audience, featuring it at the very top of the email template.
Subscribers will know exactly who this email is from as soon as they receive the email, and it may remind them to purchase one of their products.
ANSWR has also included a reminder of their £10,000 giveaway and a link to sign up to their Whatsapp.
All in all, it’s a punchy email with high-quality imagery and striking branding at its core.
Hello Fresh: Color Psychology Experts
Last, we have this powerful email template from meal subscription company HelloFresh, a brand that aces color psychology.
Hello Fresh’s use of green across their logo, background colors, and CTA buttons emphasizes their position as a healthy food company, driving home their brand message that people should choose their brand because the food is good for them.
Pair this with a huge offer of $80 off, plus free shipping, and you have a highly persuasive email template.
They’ve even provided a peek at next week’s menu to give subscribers an exclusive look at what’s to come, plus tips for how to get more out of their ingredients.
How To Make Your Email Templates Responsive
There are a few key principles you should adhere to when creating mobile-first design principles.
81% of users prefer to open emails on a mobile device, making it integral that your email templates are fully responsive.
Here are some key mobile-first design principles to use:
Media queries: Media queries are a feature of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) that allows you to adapt content to different screen resolutions. This makes it a super handy feature for ensuring that email templates are responsive for mobile devices!
Scalable fonts: Scalable fonts allow your text to be enlarged or reduced depending on the size of the user’s device -- without losing quality. This ensures that your email templates still look great, while also being mobile-responsive.
Single-column layouts: Using single-column layouts can make life a whole lot easier when it comes to mobile-responsive design. You’re less likely to have content that gets cut off due to being too wide. Plus, it keeps your subscribers focused on one column of content.
Concise copy: Responsive emails aren’t just about design principles. Content that is short and sweet can be more visually appealing on mobiles, so keep those sentences short with plenty of white space between copy sections.
Why Listen to Me? I have been working in the digital marketing space for nearly 10 years, predominantly helping brands with their email marketing and online presence. I now specialize in creating great content for beehiiv to help people nail their email strategies!
Tools for Designing Email UI Templates
There are a few tools that are my go-to when it comes to designing email UI templates.
Having the right selection of programs up your sleeve can save you time, improve results, and generally make creating great UI templates an easier experience.
Here are some of my favorite tools:
beehiiv: I love using beehiiv’s built-in editor for creating email templates with top UI design. You don’t need to use code if you prefer designing visually, and all templates you create are responsive automatically. It’s also super easy to add CTA buttons and beautiful visual elements to wow your audience.
Figma: Figma is an email interface designer that allows you to create icons, layouts, and designs that you can test before using. It’s easy to use, and you don’t need to be a developer to quickly learn how to use it.
Adobe XD: Adobe XD is another stable tool that is great for designing high-quality email templates. It’s useful for putting together responsive designs in collaboration with others and is compatible with other tools such as Photoshop.
Why beehiiv Is the Best Platform for Email UI Design
With its modern templates and wide range of customization options, beehiiv is the best platform for superior email UI design.
I love using beehiiv’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, as I know my emails will always look great, and it’s super easy to add text, images, and buttons, making my email design pop.
beehiiv also has many features for personalized customization, such as subscriber tags and audience segmentation, allowing you to send super targeted emails for individual UI preferences.
I’m also a big fan of beehiiv’s mobile-first design. Email templates are automatically optimized for different screen sizes, making my life much easier when it comes to testing if my emails are responsive.
I’m not the only creator that loves beehiiv for its UI capabilities. Check out this case study to learn how the Boston daily newsletter The B-Side achieved 60% open rates after choosing beehiiv for its creative UI opportunities.
Final Thoughts: Creating UI-Friendly Email Templates
Hopefully, your brain is brimming with ideas for how to create a UI-friendly email template after reading this help guide!
It’s super important to remember the importance of a strong UI in email templates, from general design that establishes a clean and engaging layout to experimenting with CTAs and high-quality visuals.
Remember, it’s all about the user, and the more you can do to make your templates visually appealing, the better your results will be.
Experiment with UI design tools to create your own great email templates.
Setting up a free trial with beehiiv is one of the best ways to get started. You’ll have 30 days of free access to beehiiv’s best UI tools, including the no-code drag-and-drop editor, mobile-first design, and audience segmentation.
Sign up today and get started on your best email template yet.
Google’s People Also Ask Questions
What is UI in email?
‘UI’ in email is short for ‘User Interface.’ This refers to the visual and interactive elements of an email template such as images, banners, buttons, and text formatting.
UI is important because it determines how the email appears and functions for the recipients and, therefore, how they will react to it.
How do I create a custom email design?
To create a custom email design, you need to choose an email platform that you are comfortable with that works for your brand.
The beehiiv email platform allows you to create a custom email design without the need for complicated code or development knowledge.
beehiiv’s custom templates can be used again and again, saving you time and providing you with a range of custom features to truly impress your audience.
Check out this beehiiv blog for a how-to guide on producing a custom email template using beehiiv.
Can you use Figma for email design?
Figma can be used for email design; however, a developer or third-party app will be required to export the design as HTML so that it can be used in a range of email clients.
What is email UX?
‘Email UX’ is short for ‘Email User Experience.’ This refers to the experience a user has when viewing an email, including elements such as readability, usability, and visual design.
An email template with good email UX should prioritize the user in terms of design and functionality, considering how easy the email is to understand and interact with.
The template should also consider the clarity of elements such as Calls to Action (CTAs) and ease of navigation.
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