After subscribing to OLIPOP's email list, I found a dark mode rendering failure running through their entire email program. I documented it as a cold audit, then redesigned their welcome email to solve it and to match the brand's visual identity.

OLIPOP is a vibrant probiotic soda brand with a strong visual identity, and that identity is exactly what a rendering failure damages most. On dark mode devices, black gaps opened up between every section of their emails.

The problem was structural, not a one-off. It appeared in welcome, promotional, and product emails alike.

It affected majority of mobile opens.

The root cause was that no explicit background colours were declared on section containers or spacer rows.

Dark mode failures are easy to miss from the sender's side, because the email looks fine in a standard preview. For OLIPOP, the redesign had to:

Eliminate the rendering gaps at the root, not patch them

Keep the "You're Fam Now" voice intact

Raise the design to match the brand's premium identity while fixing the technical problem

The audit and the redesign work as a single argument:

I chose the welcome email because it's the first email new subscribers receive. Fixing it there also demonstrates the fix for every other send.

Purpose: Solve the dark mode problem and strengthen the brand experience in a single redesign.

Every section background is explicitly declared, so there are zero transparent rows and zero gaps in any mode. The flavour card system was rebuilt for consistency, with the same proportions, treatment, and buttons across every card. The headline and voice stayed as they were, and only the layout changed.

Explicit background colours on every section container and spacer row

Consistent flavour cards with matching proportions and buttons

An ingredients section on dark green, a contrast moment that signals real brand substance

Brand voice preserved, layout elevated

A reliable rendering builds trust from the first email a subscriber opens.

Consistent flavour cards make choosing easier and browsing smoother.

The dark green ingredients section builds credibility at the moment a reader is deciding.

The redesign was tested on a dark canvas in Figma with zero rendering gaps. It solves the technical problem and delivers a stronger brand experience at once. The audit and the redesign were built as a cold pitch.

Role: Email Designer Project Type: Cold audit and welcome email redesign Tools: Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Klaviyo