How do you delight a five-year-old and reassure the adult with the credit card? That was the creative brief in one sentence. My role was to translate a beloved, high-energy brand into an email experience that felt whimsical to kids yet credible and clear to parents—while staying fast, responsive, and bulletproof across cranky email clients.
Context & Objectives
Introduce a limited-time family offer without overwhelming the core message.
Balance playful visuals with a strong hierarchy for adult readers.
Ship a performant, responsive email that renders consistently across major clients (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook variants) and devices.
Meet strict brand guidelines while keeping the build maintainable for future iterations.
The Challenge
Family-oriented emails fail in two predictable ways: either they feel like a toy aisle exploded in your inbox, or they read like a tax memo with a pink gradient. We needed the narrow middle—the place where color and character spark joy for kids, but the structure, contrast, and copy earn parental trust.
Approach & Process
I treated the email as two simultaneous reading paths: visual delight for quick scanning and clear utility for decision-makers.
Information Architecture: Hero promise → three benefit highlights → primary CTA for parents → compliant footer. Short, scannable, no maze.
Typography System: Safe, email-friendly stack with generous line-height. Headlines cue the "magic," body copy maintains authority.
Color & Brand: Soft gradients with high-contrast text; brand hues calibrated to keep AAA contrast on all key CTAs.
Character Usage: Recognizable My Little Pony characters used as accents, not anchors—enough to delight, never to distract.
Motion, Re-imagined: Suggested "animated" feel through layered imagery and depth, avoiding GIF bloat and client inconsistencies.
Engineering Details (for the email nerds)
Code Base: Hand-coded, table-based layout with hybrid fluid responsiveness (no framework bloat).
Responsive Strategy: Mobile-first, percentage-based columns, max-width constraints, and cautious media queries for clients that respect them.
Fallbacks: MSO-specific conditional comments for Outlook; VML buttons and hero background fallbacks where needed.
CTA Architecture: Bulletproof buttons (live text), tap-target sizing ≥ 44px, clear hierarchy for primary vs. secondary actions.
Accessibility: Logical reading order, meaningful alt text, sufficient color contrast, and clear link semantics.
Assets & Performance: Optimized imagery (retina-ready where it pays off), controlled file weight, and cautious use of background images.
Testing Matrix: Gmail (web/iOS/Android), Apple Mail (iOS/macOS), Outlook (Win desktop & M365), Yahoo, and Samsung Mail.
Solution
The final email uses soft gradients, friendly typography, and character spot-art to spark joy—anchored by a clean grid, decisive headlines, and a primary CTA written for adults. Kids see color and charm; parents see clarity, safety, and value.
Soft color gradients and approachable, email-safe fonts for warmth and readability.
Brand characters included as supportive visuals—never overpowering the message.
Crystal-clear CTA labels ("See Details," "Get the Offer") and scannable benefits.
Fully responsive layout across phones and tablets without layout jumps or reflows.
Results
The campaign recorded strong family engagement, with notable open rates and CTRs driven by parents who felt confident acting on the message. Qualitative feedback emphasized that the email "felt magical but still trustworthy"—exactly the North Star.