Subject Line (none)

In a high tech world where emails and texts overshadow letters and postcards, the ability to write clever concise phrases becomes more and more important. Sometimes however, more important than the content of an email, is the subject line itself.

The title of the email is the first thing a viewer will read and thus must catch the attention of the intended recipient without revealing too much information. In the picture above the subject line says "Happy New Year!" Then, the content of the email merely adds "Happy New Year, Duke!" In this case, the subject line is well used but the content of the email is flawed. The emailer should write more than one line or else such information is better meant for a text.

Of course, the typical "hello" subject line is perfectly acceptable, but also a bit overused. Certainly, when the emailer is simply catching up with an old friend the "hello" or "wassup" seems fine, but the more creative the better. Probably the most difficult subject line creations occur when the emailer is not that familiar with the emailee and in need of a favor. For example, asking someone for a letter of recommendation. It's already hard enough to track down those people, so you don't want to turn them away sounding too pushy in the subject line of your email.

Sorry, I don't have any full proof methods to escape the subject line dilemma. My best suggestion is to be creative, and if all else fails just reply to old emails.