Artwork by Hank Ewbank , Brandon Lord , MadeByStudioJQ and SALU With the trend of off- grid and abstract designs in emails over the past year, brands have harnessed the power of compositions that stray from conventional formatting to grab attention and keep subscribers engaged with their content. As 2020 approaches, we expect to see this style evolve, with abstractions becoming more extreme, bringing distortion to layouts, images, and animation. Taking the abstractions to the extreme pushes the audience to try to make sense of the elements presented to them. They force the eye and generate intrigue, which has a positive impact on engagement. Abstract , a version control and collaboration app, distorts the typography of the hero image in this newsletter with a glitchy gif: View this email in Litmus Builder 7.
Take animation to the next level Animation was undeniably a major trend in 2019, and it should be big in 2020 as well. We expect this trend to evolve in several ways: Animated PNGs (APNGs), which bring transparency and more color to animation than the trusty GIF, are likely to grow in popularity. With better email client support than CSS animation - and the Image Masking Service ability to use a GIF fallback - APNG's popularity is expected to grow. Our October newsletter featured a number of APNGs, allowing us to hide and show animations with a switch. Micro-interactions have been making waves in the user experience design world for several years.
Last year we started to see them becoming a popular form of visual content in emails and we expect this trend to continue. A micro-interaction can be small, like a prompt to swipe or tap, or an example of how a feature or process works. Digital businesses often use this style of animation to highlight product launches and new features, helping customers understand the process and the benefits. Vimeo highlights accessibility updates to its embeddable player with this animated hero image: View this email in Litmus Builder Cheerful animations have also been making waves in the messaging world recently and will only become more popular in our inboxes as brands embrace this uplifting form of storytelling. With emails likely to become simpler to help get key messages across quickly