Immersive Event Email Design

Designing for Unicorn World and the PaintNite/YayMaker ecosystem meant working in a category where the product is the experience itself. A ticket email for a unicorn festival or a creative workshop can't function as a standard product catalogue - the layout has to carry some of the atmosphere the reader is being asked to show up for. That meant scene-based compositions, layered heroes, and visual structures that invite the reader in rather than list at them.

In This Project

My Role

Lead Designer & Quality Assurance

Disciplines

Email Design
Event Campaigns
Visual Storytelling
Illustrative Layouts

Selling a Feeling

Designing for live events means the layout can't rely on specs or technical details to earn attention - it has to do the emotional work instead. Each email in this collection had to establish atmosphere fast enough to hold attention, and then turn that feeling into a booked ticket.

Scenes Over Grids

Each email is built around a scene: a composited hero that puts the reader inside the experience before they've scrolled, layered depth that gives static images a sense of space, and layout structures that move through the content rather than present it. Unicorn World, PaintNite, and YayMaker each speak to a different audience - Unicorn World is built around the experience of the youngest visitors, while PaintNite and YayMaker are aimed at adults looking for a creative social outlet - and the visual language of each reflects that.

The Virtual Walkthrough

A purple background with light rays sets the hero's atmosphere, as a pink-bordered GIF made up of frames from a Unicorn World video takes the spotlight, with a unicorn in front of it and a "Magic Is Coming Your Way" text in a matching pink rectangle beneath. The "Neighver A Dull Moment!" section walks through Unicorn World's offering in an alternating layout: each entry pairs an image with a text block in its own box, switching sides between entries. The testimonials section uses a pink background to set itself apart visually, with each testimonial in its own differently colored box alongside a supporting lifestyle image, the layout alternating sides throughout.

Humanizing the Platform

"we heART artists" opens the hero with a custom brushstroke underline beneath "artists", the right end of the stroke curving into a heart. Content sits on the left side of the hero; on the right, a hand holds a round "SUPPORT LOCAL ARTISTS" pin with small artist photographs floating around it. The hero image ends with a PaintNite-style frame holding a GIF of people enjoying events together. The "how we support our hosts" section uses a numbered list with a supporting image on the left - the numbering making it easier to follow each benefit in sequence. A "try it out first" section features a canvas with two hands painting, leading into a vibrant, high-contrast banner with a time-limited discount offer.

Localization by Design

Balancing the hero title on the right, the left side uses "Hooray!" in pink - once filled, twice stroke-only above and below it - creating typographic depth without adding unrelated elements. Three event photographs stacked alongside the text further balance the composition, ending with an unfolded map of the USA showing colored pins marking locations Unicorn World has visited, and a hand ready to place a new one, alongside a branded "Meet Our Unicorns!" badge. The "A Little Extra Magic" section lists the event's add-ons with a sparkle icon leading each entry, keeping the visual language playful and consistent with the Unicorn World brand rather than defaulting to a plain bullet list.

Making Digital Feel Physical

A vibrant orange background with vector brushstrokes and out-of-focus brushes and 3D play buttons sets the hero's energy. Below the content, a canvas, a tablet showing a frame from a pre-recorded PaintNite event, and a cold drink come together in a single composition - a match made in heaven for the brand's paint-and-sip identity - with a "PAUSE, PLAY, PAINT" badge sitting behind the tablet. The "are you still watching?" section uses a standard alternating layout to present themed pre-recorded events.

Visual Momentum

Colorful light rays fill the hero background, giving the layout energy before the content is read. Young visitors at a Unicorn World event fill the foreground, with three event photographs beneath them, each with a different colored border. The "Make Memories That Sparkle" section replaces a standard bullet list with sparkle icons leading each entry, keeping the visual language consistent with the overall tone and brand.

Storybook Narrative

Sprinkles appears in the upper right of the hero with an arrow pointing from the title toward the character, making it immediately clear who Sprinkles is before the reader gets to the body copy. A horizontal divider separates the hero title and Sprinkles from the rest of the hero content. Beneath the body copy, the Unicorn World book sits alongside polaroid-framed lifestyle images in a single composition. The "A Fairytale Like No Other" section opens with the title on the left and body copy on the right, with a GIF of people having fun at Unicorn World beneath it. The testimonials section closes the email, each testimonial in its own colored box alongside a supporting lifestyle image, alternating sides throughout.

Event Listings as Visual Rhythm

The composited hero scene sets the atmosphere: a tablet sits on top of a canvas on the ground with one corner touching it, alongside a brush and a cold drink, with an arrow pointing forward into the email and creating a visual bridge between the hero and the event listings. A "how it works" section closes the email with a painting kit on the left and a three-step numbered list on the right - the numbered structure giving first-time visitors a clear, sequential path through the process without having to figure it out on their own.

Tonal Shift: Corporate Events and the Earth Day Brief

A vibrant green hero opens the email, with a tablet showing a frame from a virtual terrarium event. In the foreground, an "Earth Day!" text sits alongside a hand working a terrarium, connecting the digital event to the physical activity it involves. The "celebrate the planet on April 22" section features a lifestyle image inside a decorative frame, with terrarium-making supplies composited in front of it. The "let's hear it for the admins!" section places a composition on the left - a hand holding a phone with a YayMaker booking form on screen alongside lifestyle images from YayMaker events - with the content on the right, making the booking process feel tangible to the reader.

Scene-Setting as Conversion Strategy

Using a PaintNite painting of a winter cabin scene as the hero background immediately puts the reader inside the kind of work they could make themselves - a more personal hook than a standard promotional banner. A laptop showing a live virtual class, a hot drink, and painting supplies are composited in the foreground, as a grid of winter-themed events follows beneath.

Thematic Cohesion Across a Dual-Brand Layout

Red and blue brushstrokes with a paper texture fill the hero background, carrying into a full-width painted canvas with a US flag that brings the red, white, and blue palette from the background into the foreground. A grid of Memorial Day-themed events keeps the seasonal palette consistent, as a PaintNite announcement banner closes the email.

†Desktop layouts are where most visual decisions have room to fully play out. Every email in this collection is also responsive and dark mode-ready — mobile comes with its own constraints and its own design decisions, and an email that only works on desktop isn't finished.

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