You would like your emails to always be easy to read, but above all: your message must come across clearly. Therefore, we give you a few tips on using fonts and fonts in emails:
Understand the difference between "safe fonts" and "web fonts"
The general use of fonts in your e-mail
The use of headings and sub-headings
Tip 1. Understand the difference between "safe fonts" and "web fonts"
When you start working with different fonts, it is important to know what safe fonts and web fonts are.
Safe Fonts
Safe fonts, or e-mail safe fonts, are fonts that display on any computer or device. Examples include:
Arial
Helvetica
Georgia
Times New Roman
Courier
Safe Fonts always display properly on any device when opening an email.
Web Fonts
Web fonts are fonts designed specifically for the Web. Web fonts were originally designed to be used exclusively on websites, so their licenses are usually only for use on websites and mobile applications.
Many e-mail services do not allow the use of Web fonts in e-mails because such use is considered distribution of the font. This violates the End-User License Agreement (EULA) of many services.
Is a Web font not supported by an e-mail service? Then your font is reset to a default font. This makes Web fonts less reliable than so-called safe fonts.
Each provider has a different license when it comes to fonts. This means that there is no standard way in which fonts are licensed in e-mail.
Web Fonts are fonts such as:
Open Sans
Roboto
Lato
Ludica Sans
Bitter
Droid Serif
Montserrat
Ubuntu
Karla
Bree Serif
Muli
Inter
Oswalt
Abril
Poppins
Heebo
Exo
Arimo
Saira
Raleway
Cinzel
Comfortaa
Bebas Neue
There are many more fonts. All Google Fonts are also Web Fonts.
Please note that every e-mail client has a different license as far as fonts are concerned. This means that there is no standard way fonts are licensed in emails.
Is the font not recognized? Then a default font displays.
Which web fonts are supported by which e-mail clients?
E-mail Client | Web Font support |
Apple Mail | Yes |
Outlook 2007-2016 | No |
Outlook 2019 | No |
Outlook for Mac | Yes |
Outlook Office 365 | No |
Gmail App | No |
iOS | Yes |
Outlook App | No |
Samsung Mail | No |
Apple Mail | Yes |
AOL Mail | No |
Outlook App | No |
Gmail | No |
Outlook App | No |
Office 365 | No |
Outlook App | No |
Outlook.com | No |
Yahoo! Mail | No |
Tip 2. General use of fonts in your e-mail
Your font has only one purpose: it must be clearly readable. Therefore, do not use too much bold, underlined or italicized text if it is not necessary. Your newsletter subscribers may find this irritating or awkward. We recommend the following:
Use no more than three different fonts in one email (preferably less)
Do not use more than two different colors in your text
Do not use too many 'fancy' fonts as titles, but use simple fonts. It should always remain readable.
Tip 3. The use of headings and sub-headings
What significantly increases the readability of your e-mail is a clear distinction between your headings (titles) and sub-headings (sub-titles) in your e-mail. Here are some tips:
Headings: Use headings to add structure to your e-mail. Be sure to use them consistently, for example, always twice the size of your regular text.
Links: Choose a color that matches your branding to make your links in your email stand out. Underlining links already happens automatically in our email editor.
Bold + italics: Use bold and italics sparingly and strategically. Does it make your point clearer? A good example of this:
In this example, you have a nice house style color for the button and introductory text. The title is highlighted large and bold. The title highlights a personal touch, namely 'yours'.