Apple Emails always seem to go down well – there’s a good balance of inspirational design and email best practice (although there’s a few simple wins that seem to get missed off). This one promotes the educational discount for students (and probably also targets parents/siblings of students too).

In a departure from the usual Apple style, the hero area is a full bleed photo, as opposed to the more regular product shot predominantly on white. This helps differentiate the education campaigns from the Apple store ones, and seems to be a running theme in non-store campaigns.

ps. please can I have a free iPad? (worth a try)

This easter sale email from Banana Republic puts a clever spin on the traditional sale email – the email contains a discount code, but it’s unclear how much that code will save you until you actually use it. Of course, it remains to be seen if there is any chance, or if all the codes simply redeem the same amount, but this is an interesting proposition and makes the email stand out.

Love this email from upmarket furniture retailer Dwell – the clocks go back this weekend in the UK, so this message is punchy and timely, plus it’s nicely designed to boot..

Not much to say here other than that this looks great, is a great example of best practice and is completely on brand – happy 10th anniversary threadless!

This has done the rounds over the last couple days, but it contains a clever trick to boost open rates. Take a look at the hero image area – it mimics a scrolling box you’d typically find on the website, complete with a “see more” arrow. Of course, this kind of thing only works if the landing page is engaging and contains the content you’re suggesting the recipient can scroll to – in this case it does.

Good work!

More blog coverage on The Email Wars and The Email Zoo.