{"id":29218,"date":"2022-09-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/?p=29218"},"modified":"2026-02-19T08:49:28","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T13:49:28","slug":"email-design-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-design-system","title":{"rendered":"6 Steps to a Powerful Email Design System Your Team Loves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\t<div id=\"simple-text-block-block_fba65deb704597f8559ff877c753278b\" class=\"block-simple-text-block alignfull \" style=\"background-color:\">\n  <div class=\"container\">\n  \t<div class=\"row\">\n  \t\t<div class=\"col\">\n  \t\t\t<div class=\"copy\">\n  \t\t\t\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email teams\u2014especially the designers and developers that build campaigns\u2014are constantly looking for ways to improve the production process. One tool we\u2019ve found increasingly helpful (and seen others adopt to great success) is an <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-templates\/email-design-system\">email design system<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Design systems in general are built for two reasons: efficiency and consistency. But what are email design systems, and how can they be used to improve your team\u2019s performance?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Read on to learn:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#what\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u200b\u200bWhat is an email design system?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#included\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s included in an email design system?<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#benefits\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefits of an email design system<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"#how\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create your own email design system<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 id=\"what\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is an email design system?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An email design system is a collection of reusable components, guided by standards that teams use to create on-brand emails more consistently and efficiently.<\/span><\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29219 size-full\" style=\"background-color: var(--bs-body-bg); font-size: 1rem; text-align: var(--bs-body-text-align);\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Webinar_-How-Design-Systems-Empower-Email-Teams-Everywhere-e1662588941171.png\" alt=\"components + standards = design system\" width=\"960\" height=\"429\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Webinar_-How-Design-Systems-Empower-Email-Teams-Everywhere-e1662588941171.png 960w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Webinar_-How-Design-Systems-Empower-Email-Teams-Everywhere-e1662588941171-300x134.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Webinar_-How-Design-Systems-Empower-Email-Teams-Everywhere-e1662588941171-768x343.png 768w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Webinar_-How-Design-Systems-Empower-Email-Teams-Everywhere-e1662588941171-700x313.png 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/>\n<h2 id=\"included\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What\u2019s included in an email design system?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An email design system usually consists of the following components:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Brand colors and assets<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like logos, icons, and imagery<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Email modules<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> used to build emails, like <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-modules-and-modular-email\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">snippets and partials<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Email templates<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that can be reused across campaigns<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 15px; border-left: 10px solid #0d5477;\"><strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Grab your six free <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/page.litmus.com\/subscription-email-templates.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">subscription email templates<\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014fully customizable and optimized for over 100+ email clients, apps, and devices, including Dark Mode.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The standards often dictate the usage of those components, and could include:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Documentation such as the logic behind design and implementation decisions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HTML comments on usage included in modules and templates<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kick-off meetings and ongoing training around design system usage<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Together, these components and standards form a system that empowers teams to scale their email marketing production.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"cta\">\n<table style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6; height: 168px;\" width=\"569\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px 10px 20px 20px;\">\n<h3 class=\"zero\">Example: Litmus\u2019 email design system<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here at Litmus, we house our email design system across three areas:<\/span><b><\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Visual designs<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like frameworks, brand colors, assets in <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.figma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figma<\/span><\/a><b><\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Email modules and templates<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-builder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Litmus Builder<\/span><\/a><b><\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Documentation<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for standards and usage in <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlassian.com\/software\/confluence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confluence<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our components and standards are spread across these <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/state-of-email-design-tools\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">email design tools<\/a> and are used on a daily basis by our email team.<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"block-2\" style=\"padding: 20px 20px 20px 10px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"benefits\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Benefits of an email design system<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By having an email design system in place, you not only help increase design consistency but also make it easier for your email team to be efficient.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The core idea of an email design system is rather than building an email from scratch every time, you have something built out, prepared, and optimized.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how an email design system can benefit your team:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Clarifies roles and responsibilities.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone knows exactly what they\u2019re expected to do.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Reduces repetition of errors.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fix any bugs in your email modules once (and that\u2019s it).<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Helps quickly create email campaigns.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Build more efficiently with templates, partials, and snippets all in one place.<\/span><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Saves time on building.<\/strong> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Give your developers time back so they can invest in creating better quality emails (and other efforts like <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/resources\/ultimate-guide-to-email-accessibility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">accessibility<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-dark-mode-for-email-marketers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dark Mode<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not only does an email design system enable teams to execute quicker, but they also systematically reduce the opportunity for <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/resources\/anatomy-of-a-broken-email\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">errors<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014allowing you to build emails more quickly (and scale, too).<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"how\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How to create your own email design system<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s a lot that can go into an <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-templates\/email-design-system\">email design system<\/a>, from graphics and brand assets to the actual code and copy (and <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-ultimate-guide-to-web-fonts\" target=\"_blank\">web safe fonts<\/a>) included in emails. But most successful design systems are created using a well-tested series of steps.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here\u2019s how you can go about creating your own email design system\u2014and how to get started.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">1. Determine if you need an email design system\u2014and commit<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The first step is to determine if you need an email design system and then commit as a team to build one. Ask yourselves a few questions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Does it take a long time to build email campaigns?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do we frequently run into mistakes during the QA process or after hitting send?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Are there a lot of people helping with email marketing, design, and development?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do we feel hampered by our current email production process?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Is design consistency a challenge across your team?<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Do you have team members with varying ranges of email experience?<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you answered yes to any of these questions, then creating your own email design system makes sense. Discuss the challenges your team faces with stakeholders, outline <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uxplanet.org\/why-are-design-systems-so-important-dda6225be5d7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the many benefits of a design system<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to get buy-in, then set aside the time and resources to get the work done.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2. Audit your existing email marketing program<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The next step is to audit your existing emails\u2014both marketing and transactional\u2014and identify what needs to be included in your email design system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similar to how you\u2019d <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/email-modules-and-modular-email\/#how-to-modular-email-design\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">break an email up into a modular template<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the purpose of your audit is to figure out which components are common across emails (or are unique and need to be accounted for). This helps you know what you actually need to build and the standards you need to write for using those components.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Spreadsheets are very useful for conducting audits. Open one up, and start documenting the details of every email you send, like different types of content, images, buttons, headers, footers, and disclaimers.<\/span><\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/modules.png\" alt=\"email design modules\" width=\"563\" height=\"1600\" \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">And be sure to include example screenshots or links to live emails wherever possible. These will act as a good reference point when it comes to actually building your components.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3. Discuss and document design decisions<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next comes the fun part: Talking to one another about how to implement your design system.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hold meetings, work together in collaborative design tools like Figma, or start typing in a shared doc to make the important decisions about what should be included in the design system and how it should be implemented.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The important part here is to document the process and the reasoning behind decisions so everyone is clear on the what, why, and how behind your design system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">4. Build your design system<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once there\u2019s general consensus, you need to build out and organize the actual components of your email design system. Think about where you\u2019ll house the following components:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual de<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">s<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">igns<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Email modules and templates<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Documentation<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organization is especially important because it helps your team easily find the right modules to use, making adoption easy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Let\u2019s look into each component.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Visual designs<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All of your visual design components should be easily accessible in a centralized location. This is where you\u2019ll nest your design frameworks, brand colors, assets (like logos, icons, and imagery), and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"cta\">\n<table style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6; height: 151px;\" width=\"567\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px 10px 20px 20px;\">\n<p class=\"zero\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At Litmus, we use <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.figma.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Figma<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to store our visual designs.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td class=\"block-2\" style=\"padding: 20px 20px 20px 10px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\nEmail modules and templates<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like your designs, the code your developer uses to build emails should also be in one place. You\u2019ll want to nest your templates, as well as code snippets and partials, in a place that makes sense for your email team.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"cta\">\n<table style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6; height: 151px;\" width=\"567\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px 10px 20px 20px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We use <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/help.litmus.com\/article\/313-litmus-design-library-guide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Design Library in Litmus<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for this, which allows you to save brand colors, modules, and full templates for your team to use when creating new campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can also <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/help.litmus.com\/article\/382-organizing-modules-in-design-library\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">categorize your modules<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Litmus by tagging them by module type (like headers or <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/a-guide-to-bulletproof-buttons-in-email-design\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">buttons<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">), email type (like newsletter or event), or whatever fits your needs.<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"block-2\" style=\"padding: 20px 20px 20px 10px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-29222 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-20-at-7.12.01-PM.png\" alt=\"email design system in Litmus Design Library\" width=\"1455\" height=\"624\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-20-at-7.12.01-PM.png 1455w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-20-at-7.12.01-PM-300x129.png 300w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-20-at-7.12.01-PM-1024x439.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Screen-Shot-2021-05-20-at-7.12.01-PM-768x329.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1455px) 100vw, 1455px\" \/>\n<p class=\"zero\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because you\u2019re effectively reusing the same HTML, you can spend more time making that HTML worthwhile, because you\u2019re building components that are made to be reusable, over and over again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 15px; border-left: 10px solid #0d5477;\"><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/email-testing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Automate QA testing<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in Litmus then empower anyone\u2014even non-coders\u2014to quickly build emails using the <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/new-in-litmus-april-2021-product-release\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>drag-and-drop Visual Editor<\/strong><\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. \u2192<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Documentation<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On top of where the components are stored, you need to document the other half of your design system\u2014the standards around usage.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"cta\">\n<table style=\"background-color: #f2f3f6; height: 151px;\" width=\"567\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td class=\"block-1\" style=\"padding: 20px 10px 20px 20px;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For us, that happens in <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atlassian.com\/software\/confluence\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Confluence<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but any type of docs that are shared, easy to update, and quick to reference will do.<\/span><\/td>\n<td class=\"block-2\" style=\"padding: 20px 20px 20px 10px;\"><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We\u2019ve seen teams use everything from PDFs and slide decks, to full-on websites to document their design systems. (We\u2019re huge fans of <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/design.mutualofomaha.com\/email\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mutual of Omaha\u2019s email design guide<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> if you want some inspiration.)<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5. Get others on board<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once built and documented, you need to get people on board and actually using the email design system. Kick-off meetings and team training sessions are a great way to get people up-to-speed on the design system and how it should be used moving forward. Too often, though, teams stop after an initial burst of training, and email design system usage fizzles out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Commit to ongoing training and updates to your design system\u2014whether it\u2019s through face-to-face (or virtual) meetings, routinely updated docs, quarterly releases, or even an internal newsletter\u2014so your team knows why and how to keep using the design system.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>6. Rinse and repeat<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The final step in implementing your own email design system? It\u2019s one that never ends\u2014and constantly evolves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Design systems aren\u2019t meant to be static. As <\/span><a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/litmus-live-2021-day-2\/#4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Elliot Ross<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of Taxi for Email puts it, an email design system is \u201ca living, breathing thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f\ud83d\udc4f <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IAmElliot?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IAmElliot<\/a> &quot;An EDS is a living, breathing thing.&quot; \ud83d\udcaf Doesn&#39;t need to be fully finished &#8211; get started with your highest performing \/ most common modules. You&#39;ll want to constantly improve on it as you learn more about how your audience engage. <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LitmusLive2021?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LitmusLive2021<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Rut Dawson | Email Marketing &amp; Deliverability (@rutdawson) <a rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rutdawson\/status\/1453405353018904580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The best ones grow and evolve over time, just like the businesses and people they serve. Set up periodic blocks of time to collectively review your design system components and standards. And don\u2019t forget to review your overall business goals, marketing initiatives, and product or service updates to make sure your design system is doing what it\u2019s supposed to do: helping your team thrive amidst a constantly changing landscape.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Originally published on May 24, 2021, by Jason Rodriguez. Last updated September 8, 2022.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n  \t\t\t<\/div>\n  \t\t<\/div>\n  \t<\/div>\n  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div id=\"post-cta-buttonblock_5319ebf522cc5e02fcbecee33051fc99\" class=\"block-post-cta-button mt-5\">\n  <div class=\"container px-0\">\n    <div class=\"row\">\n      <div class=\"blog-post-cta-button-wrapper col-12 col-lg-10 mx-auto p-4 d-block d-lg-flex align-items-lg-center align-items-start\">\n\t\t  \t\t  \t\t  \t\t  \t\t  \t\t  \t\t  \t\t \t\t\t  \t\t  \t\t  <div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9 ps-lg-4 ps-0 text-center text-lg-start mt-3 mt-lg-0\">\t\t\t  \t\t\t  <h2 class=\"h-sm\"><strong>Need a place to start your own email design system? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t   \n\t\t\t  \t\t\t\t\t<p>We\u2019re partial (pun intended) to Design Library in Litmus. Store, organize, and QA test your brand assets, modules, and templates for easier updates\u2014all in one place.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t  \t\t  <\/div><!--col-12 col-lg-9 ps-lg-4 ps-0 text-center text-lg-start mt-3 mt-lg-0-->\t\t\t  \t\t  <div class=\"text-center text-lg-end col-12 col-lg-1 ms-lg-2 ms-0\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"btn btn-primary\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/pricing\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTRY FREE FOR 7 DAYS \u2192\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t  \t\t  <\/div><!--text-center text-lg-end col-12 col-lg-1 ms-lg-2 ms-0-->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t        <\/div><!--blog-post-cta-button-wrapper-->\n    <\/div><!--row-->\n  <\/div><!--container-->\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn what an email design system is, why it works, and the 6 steps you need to create an effective email design system your team will actually use.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":52669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[478,10276,1344,10295],"blog_category":[10303],"class_list":["post-29218","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-design","tag-email-templates","tag-templates","tag-workflows","blog_category-email-design"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.5 (Yoast SEO v27.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Build an Email Design System Your Team Will Actually Use<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn what an email design system is, why it works, and the 6 steps you need to create an effective email design system your team will actually use.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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