The emails sent on behalf of Evergreen are important. It gives us a chance to communicate important information, as well as to build a connection with the person on the other side.

Poor quality emails can look unprofessional, appear suspicious, communicate the wrong ideas, and even undermine the trust our readers have in us. To ensure that all emails are sent with a degree of consistency, please adhere to all of the following guidelines.

Settings

Give the mailing an appropriate name. Don’t change any of the settings, including columns, backdrop, header, template, footer.

Header

Date

Include the date the email will be sent. This is optional and can be deleted.

Subject Heading

Write the overall subject of the email here. Consider whether it needs to be different than the email subject line; many times, it does not.

Hero Image

Use an image that reflects the content of the email. This image is optional and can be removed altogether by clicking the trash can when you hover over it.

Emma will resize larger photos automatically, but if you want to use the exact size, crop the photo to 638 × 218.

Content

The drag-and-drop editor

Don’t use the left combo box or follow blocks.

Typography

Do you best to match the typographic standards already set by the school.

• Set text in Avenir, Helvetica (if Avenir is not available), or Arial (if Helvetica is not available).
• Set the main body font size to 18px.
• Legalese and other “fine print” can be set to 11px, but the font should be changed to Verdana.
• Use bold or italic styles sparingly.
• Do not change the color of the text from black.
• Do not use centered text.
• Show your finished work to a designer who knows the college’s brand before sending.

Writing style

Evergreen uses the AP Stylebook to determine writing style, with a few exceptions, for example using the Oxford comma. Show your finished email to a writer or editor who knows the college’s style before sending.

Put the link on useful, scannable, key action words. Do not write “click here.”

Buttons

• Use a rounded button shape.
• Choose Helvetica for the font.
• Use the green swatch provided on the right side of the color picker for the button color.
• Use white text.

Closing

The closing works best with letter-like emails, and can be removed altogether if you are not sending in this format. There are three parts to the closing: the complimentary close, the personal signature, and the name in the signature.

Complimentary close

When in doubt, use “sincerely.” This can be deleted.

Personal signature

This can be deleted if no signature is needed. This doesn’t need to be too big. Use an image that is around 50px high (unless you have letters with big, loopy descenders, like gs and qs).

Name

This name should match the name in the signature.

Contact Info

Division signature

The division signature is your division’s “logo”. If your division would like a signature, see the Style Guide for more information.

Editable location text

Think about the contact information that your reader needs. Remove the unnecessary parts to streamline your content and focus your message.

• Include the location of your office only when the reader explicitly needs to know your location. Otherwise, the basic address should suffice.
• Likewise, include your phone number only when the reader may need to call you. Otherwise, delete it.
• The main address can also be deleted if it’s not strictly necessary.

Web address

This can be changed to reflect your own web address. Consider whether it’s necessary to link to your part of the website or if the main Evergreen homepage is sufficient. More often than not, the main Evergreen homepage is all that’s needed. If you change the written URL, be sure to change the link as well!