E-mail as in conversing.

Todays e-mail is relative to yesterdays writing personal letters. They used colored stationary and such but we do not with most e-mail servers. Is it to tacky to do this with e-mail of today? pljames

[Tdol]

I think it is a bit tacky to be honest, especially as the coloured emails that fill my inbox are usually from spammers. I prefer simple, plain emails without anything fancy, just as I prefer minimal formatting in word processed documents. I see your point about stationery, but I don't think it crosses over to email.

[Ouisch]

If it is a business-related email, simpler is better. But if it's a social email to a friend, there's nothing wrong with using decorative backgrounds and fancy fonts, as long as the recipient is able to read it. If they don't have the same fonts installed, they might just get a row of boxes or other gibberish.

I must admit, I'm one of those who loves pretty stationary, elegant fonts and different colored typefaces, which tries the patience of my much more traditional and straight-to-the-point husband.

[Tdol]

When I become Emperor, I plan to ban the Comic Sans MS font forever.

[BobK]

Not only tacky, but arrogant as well - it implies "... whaddaya mean it took ages to download, everyone has broadband today - don't they? Everyone in the world does, surely?" This is "world" in the US sense

It's also risky - the mail might not get through - some anti-spam software will 'lose' fancy mail. Of course (as long as the software is working properly) you can recover it, but you might overlook an urgent mail. I have to check my 'blocked messages' every day for this reason.

My feeling is that all these bells and whistles were just invented by Microsoft to increase sales of storage, memory, CPU upgrades, whatever.

b

[Ouisch]

Tdol - You'll have to pry that font out of my cold, dead hands!
BobK - I think you're reading a little too much into fonts and stationery. Not everyone that uses Palace Script is a rabid, flag-waving, in-your-face Yankee Doodle Dandy. Some of us like the bells and whistles simply because they're pretty.

[BobK]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

Tdol - You'll have to pry that font out of my cold, dead hands!
BobK - I think you're reading a little too much into fonts and stationery. Not everyone that uses Palace Script is a rabid, flag-waving, in-your-face Yankee Doodle Dandy. Some of us like the bells and whistles simply because they're pretty.

I'm not really a party-pooper, just a bit dour maybe. Having been involved with computers since the mid '80s, I tend to be a bit less carefree about bandwidth than some.

b

[rewboss]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

Some of us like the bells and whistles simply because they're pretty.

Well, from a design point of view, "simply because they're pretty" is one of the worst justifications for anything. It is, after all, a matter of personal taste: if you like multicoloured text, animations and background music, please be aware that we may not share your taste.

Also, when using colour, please be aware that some of us may be colourblind and have difficulty reading certain combinations. When using exotic fussy fonts, be aware that some of us don't have very good eyesight. Please also be aware that even in the States, about half of us are on dialup.

Of course, if we're talking personal e-mails to people we know, there aren't any rules. If you know the other person appreciates green text on a purple background and the theme from Miami Vice at full volume, then by all means make your e-mail look and sound like that. If you're not sure, it's safer just to keep it plain old black on white, unless you happen to be an exceptionally gifted graphic designer who knows all the pitfalls of "prettying up" your e-mails.

[MrPedantic]

I don't mind coloured emails. But I don't much care for all the picking my way through thickets of tags when answering a highly formatted post.

MrP

[Tdol]

It's the heavily formatted PowerPoint presentation with camera clicks and text appearing one letter at a time that really makes my finger trigger itch.