Email Design Podcast #63: Live “Ask Us Anything”

In the 63rd episode of The Email Design Podcast, Kevin Mandeville and Jason Rodriguez host their first ever live podcast from Litmus HQ in Cambridge, MA for an “ask us anything” edition. Be sure to follow along and join in the discussion on Twitter using #EmailDesignPodcast.

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In this episode:

• (0:59) What do you love most about email? Jason likes that email is very iterative and fast-moving. Kevin enjoys that email is a completely different set of problem solving and design thinking compared to the web.
• (2:38) Are there any special considerations for iPhone 7 width? Yes. Learn what you need to know about iOS 10.
• (4:29) Why does Windows 10 Mail break floating tables that are supposed to be inline? The best way to get around table alignment issues in the Microsoft Word rendering engine is using ghost cells.
• (6:25) What brands are doing cool things in email? Some of our favorites include Collaborative Fund, Code School, MailChimp for Agencies, table tr td, #EmailWeekly, and Burberry emails.
• (8:32) What new things are you working on at Litmus? We’re working on template updates to the Litmus Community, a faster version of Litmus Builder, and a Chrome extension.
• (10:10) What’s your favorite email design trend of 2017? We see interactive email and accessibility as big current trends. We’re excited to see how brands will start to use these techniques more often in the future.
• (12:16) Any tips for formatting Android devices? We recommend building mobile-first and reading up on 3 Keys to Understanding Email Rendering on Android and The Ultimate Guide to Email on Android.
• (15:22) Do you have any concern around messaging apps and bots disrupting email? No, we don’t. We’re seeing retailers feel the same.
• (17:52) How did you pull off CSS grid in this month’s Litmus newsletter? We explained our thinking behind using CSS grid in a recent Litmus Community post.
• (21:27) How common is text-only readership? Regardless of how many people use plain text emails, they are important for accessibility and deliverability. It’s important to always include them as part of your email send. We recommend reading Best Practices for Plain Text Emails + A Look at Why They’re Important.
• (25:41) Do you have any ideas of how to force a desktop view for Gmail App? You can use a line of spaces or dashes or a transparent spacer gif to force a full-width desktop view. FreshInbox explains the hack here.

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