My Role

Lead Brand & Graphic Designer

Overview

This project focused on redesigning the onboarding email series for new 500px users. The goal was to clearly communicate the platform’s core value propositions and guide users toward exploring key features — ultimately encouraging them to opt into the 30-day free trial. The series included the activation email, welcome email, and a set of behavior-based follow-up emails triggered by user actions (or inaction) during their first interactions with the site.

Objectives

• Increase new-user engagement and feature discovery

• Improve clarity, scannability, and visual hierarchy

• Introduce a more modern, brand-aligned visual system

• Support conversion into the 30-day free trial through clear calls to action

My Contribution

1. Design Direction & Brand Cohesion

• Established the visual direction for the entire email series, ensuring all layouts, typography, and imagery aligned with the updated 500px brand.

• Considered how the designs perform in both light and dark mode, maintaining readability and visual consistency across environments.

2. Technical & Cross-Client Considerations

• Designed with attention to email client limitations (Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, etc.) to ensure optimal rendering.

• Created flexible layouts that preserved structure and clarity across different screen sizes and devices.

• Delivered developer-ready assets with clear specifications and modular components.

3. User Journey Mapping & Messaging Flow

• Analyzed the onboarding funnel to map out where each email sits in the user journey.

• Designed multiple email variations based on user behaviour — whether they activated their account, explored the site, or had not taken any action.

Outcome

The redesigned email series created a clearer, more engaging onboarding experience. The streamlined visual hierarchy, improved branding, and behaviour-driven CTAs helped new users better understand the platform and increased opportunities for trial activation.