During my time at Henderson Engineers, I designed and hand-coded marketing emails that aligned with our evolving brand and digital strategy. Each campaign—whether an event invite, internal announcement, or external newsletter—was an opportunity to balance clean, functional design with clear messaging. With every send, I focused on accessibility, responsive layouts, and optimizing for performance across all major email clients.
Role:
Digital Designer
Industry:
AEC
Duration:
2 weeks
Challenges
Fully Responsive: Ensure every email works beautifully on mobile, tablet, and desktop—across Gmail, Outlook, and everything in between.
Scalability: Create email structures that can be reused and repurposed for future needs without sacrificing design integrity.
User Experience: Prioritize clarity, readability, and accessibility in every design—making sure recipients can find what they need, fast.
My Approach
Discovery Phase
Audit & Analysis: I began by reviewing all existing email communications—newsletters, event invites, and internal messages—to understand what was working and where we could improve. I noted design inconsistencies, rendering issues, and areas where engagement could be stronger.
Stakeholder Collaboration: Met with the marketing team and firm leadership to align on goals, brand tone, and the types of emails we’d be sending. These conversations helped define the must-haves for content, functionality, and long-term scalability.
Design & Development
UX + UI Design: I designed clean, flexible layouts focused on readability and hierarchy. Key elements like CTAs, headers, and content blocks were intentionally styled to guide the reader without overwhelming them.
Brand Integration: Pulled visual elements from our broader brand system—colors, typography, imagery styles—and adapted them to email. The goal was to create a cohesive brand experience across print, web, and inbox.
Custom Code: Built fully responsive emails using HTML and inline CSS from scratch—avoiding over reliance on clunky builders. This allowed me to fine-tune the experience across all major email clients and devices.
Component-Based Structure: Developed modular sections (hero banners, body copy, CTA blocks, footers, etc.) that could be mixed and matched for different campaign types, ensuring consistency while allowing for flexibility.
Testing & Optimization
Email Client Testing: Used tools like Litmus to test rendering across platforms including Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail. I identified bugs early and adjusted code for the quirks of different environments.
Performance Refinement: Focused on optimizing load speed and minimizing layout shifts. Ensured all image files were compressed and all interactive elements were supported with graceful fallbacks.
Internal Feedback Loop: Sent test emails to internal stakeholders for review before launch. Feedback was quickly implemented, ensuring design and messaging felt aligned across departments.
Results
The email system at Henderson matured into a well-oiled, branded experience—supporting everything from high-profile announcements to thought leadership newsletters. Internal teams found it easier to communicate externally, and leadership trusted the platform to deliver. Open and engagement rates increased across campaigns, with fewer rendering issues and faster production timelines.
Future Plans
Template Library: Expand the email system with a library of modular templates for faster campaign turnaround.
Automation Support: Prepare templates for integration with marketing automation tools to streamline recurring communications.
Visual Refresh: Periodically audit and update templates to reflect brand evolution and shifting user preferences.
Conclusion
Designing and coding emails for Henderson Engineers gave me the opportunity to create a more cohesive and branded communication experience from the ground up. By building flexible, responsive templates and establishing a solid design system, I helped streamline our marketing efforts while maintaining consistency across internal and external outreach. This work not only elevated the look and feel of our emails but also laid the foundation for scalable, efficient campaigns moving forward.
