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Use your layout to make your newsletter memorable.

The best way to differentiate your newsletter from everything else your readers get by email is by having a unique point of view.

In your writing, this could come from:

• Your subject matter, by identifying a unique niche

• Your curation (if you're a daily newsletter or your angle is to provide curation)

• Your analysis and synthesis of what's going on (if your publication is about connecting the dots across new developments, trends and historical context)

But in the visual layout of your newsletter, how do you express point of view?

Visual point of view

Applied to newsletters, the concept of visual point of view is about establishing the right fit between your layout and your content. It also involves being consistent; and following strong design principles for online writing.

Here are some examples:

AWA (Accidentally Wes Anderson)

AWA immerses you in a visual world. They recognize that a small number of visuals is powerful, so their selection is minimalist but the images themselves are extraordinary rich.

They use:

• Large images

• Minimal text

• A background color in the margins and footer that immediately says you've left your regular email experience and you’re visiting a different visual space.

Ashley in Your Inbox

Ashley Budd, a marketing operations leader at Cornell University, publishes only occasionally, so recipients have a high level of trust that the content is going to be worthwhile. The newsletter benefits from the sense of scarcity. If I can’t open it the moment it arrives, I write a note to myself to remember to read it.

• She leaves lots of white space.

• Her layout for sharing links is unique because she doesn’t explain the source or content. She writes a short heading and adds an emoji. Because she’s developed a sense of trust with readers, we make the effort to click on the links.

• The narrative in paragraphs usually appears after the links. She describes very specific insights from her work and her team's recent accomplishments, including data.

• It’s brief. She’s described her positioning as like a letter to a friend.

With articles and link curation you can still differentiate:

The most common format of newsletter includes an opening news bit or two, an article, and a list of links. Within that format you can use lengths of pieces, tone, and layout to build a unique rhythm so that readers know what to expect.

The Hustle delivers consistently. Before I open their email I know I'm going to get a warm greeting and some quick hits that are energizing. Then there will be a long article, and some more interesting items below it. Even if I'm not interested in the main article, I'll skim to the bottom to see what they add. Once there was a job posting for the head of The Hustle team!

The Payload has a unique solution for sharing links. In order to maintain the reader’s momentum, their first section of links is against a white background, and then a second section has a tinted background color that helps anchor the end of the issue.

Industry Dive publications

You may take for granted that many of your readers are on mobile, but that hasn't been obvious to many publishers, especially in the B2B space. Here's Sean Griffey speaking to Brian Morrissey about their design goals:

The result? B2B emails sent daily that are very easy to consume. No photos. Maybe a logo or two. Text that gets right to the point. Headlines for their own short pieces, followed by headlines from other publications. The ad content is presented only in text.

Formats that offer a reading experience

Create Make Write

Josh Spilker varies paragraph lengths, white space, and occasional bolding to move the reading experience along. While it can be skimmed, you may not want to. It lends itself to reading, from start to finish, and concentrating.

In Total Annarchy, Ann Handley tells stories while making asides:

For more on varying the lengths of sentences and paragraphs, read Nathan Baugh’s 4/29/23 issue of World Builders.

In conclusion:

Reflect on the type of experience you want to offer to your readers. In what setting do you picture them reading your newsletter? Do they want immediate insights to act on, so that they can close the email and move on, or will they spend a few minutes being drawn into your message and use it to spark thinking about their own projects?

How do you want them to feel?

Then build a layout to suit that experience.

What other types of layouts have you noticed? Add a comment below or email to me at [email protected].

Other visuals

I'll occasionally write about visuals in media other than newsletters, because interacting with creativity anywhere helps feed our brains.

Fordite

This issue's cover image is a sample of Fordite, which consists of layers of old automotive paint. Artists cut and polish pieces to make jewelry and other pieces. Urban Relic Design has written about the origins of Fordite.

ICYMI

How to use punctuation and letter shapes to turn your subject line into a strong visual.

Thank you for reading! I’d like to hear your feedback and suggestions. Get in touch at [email protected], or connect with me on Twitter or LinkedIn.

Best,

Margie