A client recently asked why e-mail newsletters are often laid out in a rather narrow format. An e-newsletter should be formatted for a maximum of 600 pixels wide, while the most popular screen resolution is 1280 pixels wide. Why don't they take advantage of modern, higher resolution monitors? This was our reply:

Lowest Common Denominator
The main reason is to prevent left-right scrolling in the viewing window—a real annoyance for readers. There is a huge variety in e-mail readers out there: Outlook, Thunderbird, Outlook Express, and Eudora, to name a few; web based e-mail programs, such as Hotmail and Gmail; webmail viewers on company intranets; and e-mail readers on smart phones. A good e-news designer must design for all eventualities—never assume that recipients have their browser/e-mail client window set to full screen; so the open window could be almost any size. Also, allowances need to be made for sidebars within that browser window.

When I began in this business, it quickly became clear that there are fundamental rules in graphic design. Things like, certain fonts should never be combined, don't use too many fonts, conservative businesses use conservative colours, make good use of white space, and certain colours NEVER go together...

Well, just as quickly it became clear that the way your business gets attention is by sometimes breaking those rules. Who would have thought that a bank, the epitome of conservative business, could successfully use lots of bright orange combined with royal blue - that combination is no-no - as its corporate colours! (I'm sure you know who I mean.) They broke the rules to show that they are an unconventional bank and are now reaping the benefits.

Or what about the Canadian grocery chain that created a North American marketing phenomenon with their advertising supplement which crammed way too much into a comic book-style booklet to promote their new products from an "Insider's" perspective? That campaign has been flourishing for more than 10 years.