the art and science of the email signature _ smashing magazine
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The Art and Science of the Email Signature _ Smashing MagazineTRANSCRIPT
1/1/14 The Art And Science Of The Email Signature | Smashing Magazine
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The Art And Science Of The Email Signature
Email signatures are so easy to do well, that it’s really a shame how often
they’re done poorly. Many people want their signature to reflect their
personality, provide pertinent information and more, but they can easily
go overboard. Why are email signatures important? They may be boring
and the last item on your list of things to get right, but they affect the tone
of every email you write.
Email signatures contain alternative contact details, pertinent job titles and company names, which help the
recipient get in touch when emails are not responded to. Sometimes, they give the recipient an idea of who
wrote the email in case it has been a while since they have been in touch. They are also professional: like
a letterhead, they show that you run a business (in some countries, you’re required to do so). Here are
some tips on how to create a tasteful signature that works .
Be Concise
First and foremost, the sender’s header (the “From” field) should have a name, and you should use a
company email address if you can. If someone sees [email protected], they’ll suspect it’s spam. If
the sender’s header reads, “Steve Stevenson – Mister Stevenson Design Company”
<[email protected]>, they’ll know it’s a professional email from Steve, their trusted designer.
Start by making your website a link. Many email clients convert email addresses and websites into links
automatically, but not always. When you’re creating the HTML for an email, make sure the link will appear
by adding writing it in HTML. And instead of linking text like “My website,” type out the URL, which will be
useful for those who want to copy and paste the address.
An email signature shouldn’t double the email’s length, so make it as short as possible (three lines is
usually enough). Don’t get into your life story here. The purpose of a signature is to let them see who you
are and how to get in touch with you.
By Kat Neville 1
Published on February 4th, 2010 in ASCII , Email , Inspiration with 2 3 4 161 Comments
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MA KE S URE TO INCLUD E…
No need to include 10 different ways to get in touch with you. As in website design, less is more; and then
they’ll know which way you prefer to be contacted. Go to two or three lines, with a maximum of 72
character per line (many email applications have a maximum width of 80 characters, so limit the length to
avoid unsightly wrapping). An optional fourth line could be your company address, but use caution if you
work from home.
--Steve Stevenson, Web Designerwww.misterstevenson.com | [email protected]
S HORT A ND CONCIS E, B UT CHECK THE RULES
In some European countries, laws dictate what items you must put in your email signature if you are a
registered company. For example, UK law requires private and public limited companies to include the
following:
You can be fined for not including this information on all electronic correspondence and on your website
and stationary. Many freelancers and small businesses have ignored these rules since their inception,
risking a fine. For more information on UK rules, go here. Do some research to find out what rules apply in
your country.
--Steve Stevenson, Web Designerwww.misterstevenson.com | [email protected] Main Street, London, UK, EC2A 1RECompany number: 12345678
D ON’T INCLUD E…
Your name,
Your company and position,
How to get in touch with you.
Company number,
Address of registration,
VAT number, if there is one.
Personal Twitter, IM or Skype details;
Your home phone number or address (unless you want to be called by international clients
early in the morning);
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Random quotes are fun for friends, but you risk offending business associates with whom you don’t have a
personal relationship. Unless you want clients contacting you while you’re watching Lost, don’t share your
home details far and wide. Also, don’t share your personal contact information with your corporate
partners. They certainly won’t be interested in it, and you may not want them to know certain details about
you. However, mentioning your corporate Twitter account or alternative means of contact in your signature
might be useful, in case your correspondent is not able to get in touch with you by regular email.
Steve Stevenson, Web Designerweb: www.misterstevenson.com
blog: blogspot.celebritiesneedhelp.com
email: [email protected]
home: 613.555.2654
home (wife): 613.555.3369
work: 613.555.9876
cell: 613.555.1234
55 Drury Lane
Apartment 22
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada
twitter: @stevie_liverpool_fan
skype : stevie_the_man
messenger: stevie_mrstevenson
I specialize in:
Web design
Graphic design
Logo design
Front-end development
UI design
“Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is
worth the price.” -Amelia Aerheart
Don’t do this.
The URL of your personal website;
Random quotes at the bottom;
Your entire skill set, CV and lifetime achievements in point form.
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Images And Logos
Let’s get this out of the way now: your entire signature shouldn’t be an image . Sure, it will look exactly
how you want, but it is completely impractical. Not only does an image increase the email’s file size, but it
will likely be blocked before being opened. And how does someone copy information from an image?
Any images should be used with care and attention. If you do use one, make it small in both dimensions
and size, and make it fit in aesthetically with the rest of the signature. 50 x 50 pixels should be plenty big for
any logo. If you want to be taken seriously as a business person, do not make it an animated picture,
dancing dog or shooting rainbow!
Most email clients store images as attachments or block them by default. So, if you present your signature
as an image, your correspondents will have a hard time guessing when you’ve sent a genuine attachment.
The best way to include an image is to host it on a server somewhere and then use the absolute URL to
insert the logo. For example, upload the logo to http://www.example.com/uploads/logo.gif. And then, in your
email signature’s HTML, insert the image like so:
<img src="http://www.example.com/uploads/logo.gif" width="300" height="250" alt="example's logo" />
Don’t Be A Fancy Pants
US E V CA RD S W ITH CA UTION
While vCards are a great, convenient way to share contact information, in emails they add bytes and
appear as attachments. It is often said that you shouldn’t use a vCard for your email signature, because as
helpful as it might be the first time you correspond with someone, receiving it every time after that gets
annoying. Besides, the average email user won’t know what it is. Look at the example below. Would an
average user know what that is?
---Steve Stevenson, Web Designerwww.misterstevenson.com | [email protected]
This signature is too big at 20 KB and impossible to copy.
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If you do want to provide a vCard, just include a link to a remote copy.
W HA T A B OUT CONFID ENTIA LITY CLA US ES ?
If your emails include confidential information, you may need to include a non-disclosure agreement to
prevent information leaks. However, good practice is never to send sensitive information as plain text in
emails because the information could be extracted by third parties or forwarded by recipients to other
people. Thus, including a non-disclosure agreement doesn’t make much sense if you do not send sensitive
information anyway.
Keep in mind, too, that the longer a confidentiality clause is, the more unlikely someone will actually read it.
Again, check your country’s privacy laws. Some big companies require a disclosure with every email, but if
you’re at a small company or are a freelancer and don’t really require it, then don’t put it in. The length of
such clauses can be annoying, especially in short emails.
---Warm Regards & Stay Creative!Aidan Huang (Editor)-------------------------------------------OnextrapixelShowcasing Web Treats Without Hitchweb . http://www.onextrapixel.comtwi . http://twitter.com/onextrapixel---------------------------------------------------------------------------------This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solelyfor the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you havereceived this email in error please notify the sender. This message containsconfidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If youare not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy thisemail. Please notify the sender immediately by email if you have received thisemail by mistake and delete this email from your system. If you are not theintended recipient you are notified that disclosing, copying, distributing ortaking any action in reliance on the contents of this information is strictlyprohibited.
--This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential. If you have receivedthis email in error please notify the sender and then delete it immediately.Please note that any views or opinions presented in this email are solely thoseof the author and do not necessarily represent those of Company.
The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presenceof viruses. Company accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virustransmitted by this email.
Company may regularly and randomly monitor outgoing and incoming emails(including the content of them) and other telecommunications on its emailand telecommunications systems. By replying to this email you give yourconsent to such monitoring.
*****
Save resources: think before you print.
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D ON’T B E A FRA ID TO S HOW S OME PERS ONA LITY
Although your email signature should be concise and memorable, it doesn’t have to be boring. Feel free to
make your email signature stand out by polishing it with your creative design ideas or your personal touch.
Using a warm greeting, adding a cheeky key as Dan Rubin does or encouraging people to “stalk” you as
Paddy Donnelly does, all show personality behind simple text.
The key to a simple, memorable and beautiful email signature lies in balancing personal data and your
contact details. In fact, some designers have quite original email signatures; most of the time, simple ASCII
is enough.
--h: http://danielrubin.orgw: http://sidebarcreative.comb: http://superfluousbanter.org
m: +1 234 567 8901i: aninstantmessanger
k: h = home, w = work, b = blog, m = mobile, i = aim, k = key
Paddy
--
The Site: http://iampaddy.comStalk Me: http://twitter.com/paddydonnelly
--
With optimism,Dmitry Belitskyhttp://belitsky.info
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Matthias Kretschmann /// [email protected] ////// freelance designer & /// www.kremalicious.com ////// photographer /// www.matthiaskretschmann.com ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// media studies / communication science & art history ////// MLU Halle-Wittenberg //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
--With greetings from Freiburg, Germany,Vitaly Friedman (editor-in-chief)-------------------------------------------------Smashing Magazinehttp://www.smashingmagazine.com - http://www.twitter.com/smashingmagonline magazine for designers and developers
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HTML?
If you can, stay away from HTML formatting. Every Web designer knows the pain of HTML newsletters, and
while HTML is supported for email signatures, you’ll likely have problems with images and divider lines in
different email clients. Some nice ASCII formatting may work in some cases.
--carole guevin . editor//// design + digital culture magazine//// http://netdiver.net
--Min, Tran DinhChief Creative Designer - Frexy Studio
Website: http://frexy.com | Blog: http://min.frexy.com | Email: [email protected]: (84) 012 345 678
- --Rene Schmidt -- Berater für Web-Entwicklung & eCommerce,Linux-Webserver-Systemadministration & Web-ProgrammierungVordamm 46, 21640 Horneburg; http://www.reneschmidt.de/Tel: 0123.456.7.890; Skype: reneATreneschmidt.deSteuernummer 43/141/09180; USt-IdNr 219014862-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (MingW32)Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org/
iEYEARECAAYFAktit8sACgkQucSanG9drm2ZYACggIeQST/C226LIsd/czEmrnrRTjUAniVPXI2lkA68fy3n+nUawdAE1nJ/=+vZR-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
---Geoff TeehanTeehan+LaxWeb Platforms | Digital Campaigns | Mobile Applications | Strategic Consulting
T: 416 123 4567 x 890 | teehanlax.com | twitter.com/@teehanlax
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----------------------------------------Dmitry Dragilev
ZURB | Marketing [email protected]://www.zurb.com------------------------------------------
Follow our blog at:http://www.zurb.com/blog
Follow us on Twitter: @zurbhttp://twitter.com/zurb
Check out Notable - Easiest way for teams toprovide feedback on websites.http://www.notableapp.com------------------------------------------
______________________________________________
Website: www.webdesignerdepot.comTwitter: www.twitter.com/DesignerDepot
Regards,
Matt WardEcho Enduring Media
Web - http://www.echoenduring.comBlog - http://blog.echoenduring.comTwitter - @echoenduring - Follow me!
--Dan RubinSidebar Creative { Director of Training & User Experience }
mobile: +1 234 567 8901http://sidebarcreative.com
--David LeggettTutorial9 [email protected]
Gareth HardyGraphic Designer | Down With Design
[email protected]+44 (0) 0123 456 789
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Grant Friedmanwww.colorburned.com
Follow me on Twitter!http://twitter.com/colorburned----------------------------------------
Many thanks,Yaili.
yaili.com | webdesignernotebook.com | londonchronicles.com+44 (0) 1234 567890skype: inayaili
Thanks!Jonathan Cutrell, EditorFuelYourInterface.com | @FuelInterface | @jCutrell
--All the best,
Rob BowenCopywriter | Designer | Creative Consultant
Co-Founder/Editor @ Arbenting& Dead Wings Designs
http://arbent.net/blog
http://deadwingsdesigns.com
Arseny
--Please consider the environment before printing this email.---Arseny Vesninhttp://designcollector.netCalendar: http://2010.designcollector.netProfile: http://designhub.ruTwitter: http://twitter.com/designcollectorFlickr: http://www.flickr.com/groups/designcollector-6Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/channels/designcollectorFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/designcollector
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Warm regards,
Dipti Kankaliya{ [email protected] }
Studio March Private Limited12 Moledina Road Camp Pune 1 IndiaPhone: +91-20-26334002{ http://www.studiomarch.com }
MarchCast – The Studio March blog{ http://www.studiomarch.com/mc }--This is an official email from Studio March Private Limited and is protectedby a disclaimer. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, pleasevisit: http://www.studiomarch.com/legal/email.
Of course, if you’re really keen to use HTML, keep it simple :
–
Steve Stevenson, Web Designer
www.misterstevenson.com | [email protected]
Make sure it still looks good in plain text.
Use black and standard-sized fonts, and stay away from big, tiny and rainbow-colored
fonts.
Don’t use CSS. Inline HTML formatting is universally accepted.
Use common Web fonts.
Including a logo? Make sure the signature looks nice even when the logo doesn’t load or is
blocked.
Check how it looks when forwarded. Do all the lines wrap correctly?
You may want to load your company image as your gravatar from Gravatar.com as Joost
de Valk does.
Feel free to experiemnt with your e-mail signature: Jan Diblík uses a signature with
dynamicaly changed promo image.
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Separate Signature From Content
Your signature should clearly be a separate entity. Wikipedia explains the correct way to separate the
signature:
“The formatting of the sig block is prescribed somewhat more firmly: it should be displayed as plain text in a
fixed-width font (no HTML, images, or other rich text), and must be delimited from the body of the message
by a single line consisting of exactly two hyphens, followed by a space, followed by the end of line (i.e., “–
\n”). This … allows software to automatically mark or remove the sig block as the receiver desires.”
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There are other less standard ways to separate your signature. While not automatic formatting, a line of
—–, ======, or _______ or even just a few spaces will visually separate your signature from your email.
------------------------------------Dan Oliver (editor).net magazine (www.netmag.co.uk)----------------------------------Twitter: danoliverEmail: [email protected]: 01234 56789----------------------------------Address for deliveries:.net, Units 1 & 2 Cottrell Court,Monmouth Place, Bath, BA1 2NP----------------------------------
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Elliot Jay StocksElliot Jay Stocks Design Ltd.Registered in England & Wales #1234567
http://elliotjaystocks.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
###
Cheers,-Dan
Vennlig hilsenLars BækByråleder & Tekstforfatter...................................................JØSS!Storgata 15, 2408 ElverumMob (+47) 01 23 45 [email protected] | www.joss.as
----------------------------------------------Information Architects Inc.Tokyo Zurich
Oliver Reichenstein, Founder
http://informationarchitects.jphttp://webtrendmap.comhttp://twitter.com/iA----------------------------------------------
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Wrestling With Your Email Client
Offering general advice on signatures is easy, sure. But anyone who has tried to implement automatic
signatures in Outlook, Gmail or Yahoo knows it’s not always that simple. Here are some resources to help
you get yours right every time.
Outlook
Changing Outlook’s signature is a real pain, but here‘s a guide that teaches you a few things. If you use
Outlook 2003, here‘s another tutorial on custom signatures.
Entourage
Microsoft’s mail for mac works differently. Here’s a tutorial on how to set it up.
Gmail
Want just one basic signature? Here‘s how to change the text. You’d think Google would allow you multiple
signatures, links and a bit of formatting. If you’re looking for something a little more designed or wish to
choose between multiple signatures, here are five ways to do it in Firefox.
Hotmail
Tips on custom images and more for Hotmail (Oh my!) can be found here. If you use Windows Live, here is
a tutorial on adding images and HTML. The detail is helpful, even if the images are awful.
Yahoo
After a bit of research, I found that Yahoo used to support HTML signatures, but no longer. Here‘s how to
change your signature using rich text.
Apple Mail
Here is a pretty decent tutorial, with some inline HTML for formatting. It then explains how to implement it in
the application. You even get some hints on how it will look on the iPhone.
Palm Pre
Learn how to customize your message on your Palm Pre here.
iPhone
Customize your “Sent from my iPhone” message here.
BlackBerry
Some information on how to change your message on BlackBerry smartphones here.
Resources
About the Signature Block on Wikipedia 5
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Related Posts
You may be interested in the following related posts:
(al)
Email Signature Etiquette 6
Creating, Installing and Using HTML e-Mail Signatures: Technical Considerations 7
How To Create A Great Web Design CV and Résumé? 8
Business Card Design: Better Than A Plain Ol’ Business Card 9
Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices 10
FOOTNOTES :
Kat Neville - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/author/kat-neville/?rel=author0
ASCII - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/ascii/1
Email - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/email/2
Inspiration - http://www.smashingmagazine.com/tag/inspiration/3
About the Signature Block on Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signature_block4
Email Signature Etiquette -
http://www.hanselman.com/blog/EmailSignatureEtiquetteTooMuchFlair.aspx
5
Creating, Installing and Using HTML e-Mail Signatures: Technical Considerations -
http://www.digitechbranding.com/pages/email-signature-HTML-programming.html
6
How To Create A Great Web Design CV and Résumé? -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/01/10-handy-tips-for-web-design-cvs-and-
resumes/
7
Business Card Design: Better Than A Plain Ol’ Business Card -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/05/20/effective-business-card-design-better-than-a-
plain-ol-business-card/
8
Invoice Like A Pro: Examples and Best Practices -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/11/05/invoice-like-a-pro/
9
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Kat Neville is a freelance Canadian web designer (living in the UK) who
is constantly coming up with too many ideas for new websites. She
also loves arts and crafts, gardening and going on adventures. You
can find her design work at safetygoat.co.uk.
With a commitment to quality content for the design community.
Made in Germany. 2006-2013. http://www.smashingmagazine.com