Emails don’t have to be boring we show how to give yours an individual design
Sending email is one of the most popular uses of the internet, with an estimated two million messages sent every second. It’s also one of the oldest, as the first email was sent two decades before the first website at Cern appeared.
In many respects, email hasn’t changed much since those early days; many of us still send simple text-based messages. When compared with the colourful and complex designs of modern web pages, the reams of text in emails can be bland, impersonal and tedious to read.
This doesn’t have to be the case. Almost all email programs and services can be used to add a personal touch to your messages, changing them from a boring blank page of text into a well-formatted document. You can change the font sizes and styles, format your message with stationery and add a personal signature, perhaps with extra contact details. In this article we’ll show you how.
The right tool for the job There are plenty of ways to read and compose emails, but most fall into two categories: software that runs on your computer, such as Microsoft Outlook Express, or Mozilla Thunderbird, and webmail services that are used through a web browser, such as Windows Live Hotmail or Google Mail.
Whichever type and whichever specific program or service you use, however, the chances are that it can be set up so your emails will stand out from the crowd.
Different versions of Microsoft Windows come with different free email software. Outlook Express is included with Windows XP and Windows Mail comes with Windows Vista. Microsoft now has a third email program, called Windows Live Mail, that supersedes both of these. Live Mail is given away as part of the Windows Live Essentials pack.
Add a signature The simplest way to make your emails look personal is to automatically add a signature to the bottom of each one. It doesn’t need to be too long or anything flashy; a few lines of text is normally sufficient. You might want to include your contact details, perhaps, or information about a club or society that you run. If you’re using email for business then including details about your role can help lend some authority to the message above.
