We getting tipsy, Email Geek. |
My dad used to ask if I’d jump off a cliff if everyone else was doing it. What I think he should’ve asked is if I’d put motion blur in my emails if everyone else was doing it. As you can see above with today’s hero GIF made from a photo of our RGE colleagues debating their life choices, the answer is an absolute yes, dad.
If you’ve browsed RGE in the past few months, you’ve probably seen this style show up more than you’d expect. Lululemon, Huckberry, Mindbloom, Peerspace, and lots of others are making us feel like we’re back in high school photo class again.
Which is kind of the interesting thing about design trends because the visual treatment is usually the least important part. The better question is why does this suddenly feel right for so many brands right now? Motion blur can add energy, humanity, tension, speed, nostalgia, or just enough imperfection to make something feel less assembled and not AI-generated.
That’s the point of our upcoming Design Trends 2026 webinar. We won’t actually be covering motion blur (so please do not attend and yell "WHAT ABOUT THE BLUR?"), but we will dig into the principles behind some of this year’s biggest trends, why they work, and how to decide whether to steal them, adapt them, or leave them alone. |
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A quick ad moment, targeted at people who want more functionality inside their ESP... |
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Articles of the week for inbox people who like to move quickly (even in photos): |
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| AI-generated email summaries: What we learned after analyzing 628 summaries |
AI summaries are now another audience your email has to write for, which is annoying because the robots were not invited to the creative review. BuzzStream analyzed 628 summaries across Gmail, Apple Mail, and Outlook and found that structure matters a lot: front-load the good stuff, use bullets, keep the message simple, and do not assume your beautiful graphic will make it into the summary. |
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How to protect your email program during a rebrand |
A rebrand can break trust, confuse subscribers, trip phishing concerns, and wreck deliverability if the sending domain, authentication, list hygiene, and subscriber education are treated like an afterthought. This is a very useful checklist for the part of a rebrand nobody wants to own until the emails start landing in spam. |
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| Newsletter content strategy: 13 data-backed formats & trends driving results |
A newsletter does not become useful just because it arrives consistently, which is unfortunate news for everyone sending “monthly updates." This uses data from newsletter professionals to focus on the stuff that actually earns inbox space: a clear reader profile, a real format, a defined voice, and a promise stronger than to send leftovers. |
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| Five trends redefining brand storytelling |
Audiences are overwhelmed, skeptical, and increasingly retreating into smaller trusted circles, which makes generic brand storytelling feel even more disposable. This is a good strategy read for email teams trying to build trust through depth, consistency, usefulness, and a point of view that survives more than one campaign. |
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Thanks for reading & learning with us since November 2023. |
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