---
title: "Newsletter"
subtitle: "The longest-form owned channel: a letter, not a feed post"
description: "How the brand shows up in the newsletter: logo and wordmark, header banner, post feature images, inline image rules, and email-weight discipline."
author: "Studio"
section: "Touchpoints"
layer: "core"
subsection: "Web"
order: 2
status: "published"
access: "team"
brand: "internal"
---

The newsletter is the brand's longest-form owned channel. It arrives in an inbox as a letter, not a feed post, and gets read at whatever width the reader's client allows. Substack is the current platform; a switch changes the settings, not the guidance. The studio team owns it.

## Identity here

- **Logo**: the square publication logo takes the avatar variant. No existing lockup fits the wordmark slot's wide ratio. That export is requested from design. Variants: [4.1 Logo](/brand/logo.html).
- **Colour**: the header banner and designed imagery carry the brand palette; body text stays on the platform's reading defaults rather than fighting them: [4.2 Colour](/brand/color.html).
- **Type**: designed assets (header, feature images) use the brand type roles. Body copy renders in the platform's email-safe stack, the same constraint the [Email Signature](/touchpoints/email-signature.html) works under: [4.3 Typography](/brand/typography.html).

## Specs

| Asset | Size | Safe area | Format | Max weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Publication logo | 256×256 minimum (1:1) | square crop, centre the mark | PNG (transparent) / JPG | – | avatar logo variant |
| Wordmark | 1344×256 minimum (21:4) | – | PNG (transparent) | – | no existing lockup fits 21:4. Export requested from design |
| Header banner | 1100×220 (5:1) | keep content centred | PNG (transparent) / JPG | keep light. It loads in email | tops every sent email |
| Cover image | 600×600 minimum (1:1) | – | PNG/JPG | – | the publication's directory card |
| Post feature image | 1456×1048 | focal point centred | PNG/JPG | ~150 KB working target | doubles as the post's social preview |
| Inline images | 1600px wide upload; renders at 800px | body crops anything taller than square | PNG/JPG/GIF | keep light | 2× upload keeps retina sharp |

_Specs verified against platform documentation: 2026-07-05._

Substack publishes the dimensions but no hard file-size caps. The weights above are deliverability targets, not platform limits. Heavy images are the difference between a newsletter that opens and one that gets clipped mid-scroll.

## Templates & assets

Header-banner and feature-image blanks at spec size, plus the wide wordmark export, are requested from design. Each frame below holds its format at the exact ratio until the template lands.

<div class="demo-preview is-joined is-centered">
  <img class="format-preview" src="/image/1100x220" width="1100" height="220" loading="lazy" alt="">
</div>
<div class="demo-caption">
  <p>Header banner, 1100×220 (5:1)</p>
</div>
<div class="demo-preview is-joined is-centered">
  <img class="format-preview" src="/image/1456x1048" width="1456" height="1048" loading="lazy" alt="">
</div>
<div class="demo-caption">
  <p>Post feature image, 1456×1048</p>
</div>
<div class="demo-preview is-joined is-centered">
  <img class="format-preview" src="/image/1344x256" width="1344" height="256" loading="lazy" alt="">
</div>
<div class="demo-caption">
  <p>Wide wordmark, 1344×256 (21:4)</p>
</div>

## Don't

<div class="grid cols-2 gap-m">
  <div class="card dont-card">
    <img class="dont-card-media" src="/image/800x450" width="800" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="">
    <div class="dont-card-icon">{{icon:close-circled}}</div>
    <h4 class="card-title">Don't publish without a feature image</h4>
    <p class="card-description">The feature image is the social preview. Without one, every share of the post renders as a bare link. The platform decides how the brand looks.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="card dont-card">
    <img class="dont-card-media" src="/image/800x450" width="800" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="">
    <div class="dont-card-icon">{{icon:close-circled}}</div>
    <h4 class="card-title">Don't send heavy images</h4>
    <p class="card-description">Mail clients clip long, heavy emails. An oversized inline image can cut the letter off before the sign-off, and the reader never knows.</p>
  </div>
  <div class="card dont-card">
    <img class="dont-card-media" src="/image/800x450" width="800" height="450" loading="lazy" alt="">
    <div class="dont-card-icon">{{icon:close-circled}}</div>
    <h4 class="card-title">Don't rely on tall imagery</h4>
    <p class="card-description">The body crops anything taller than square. A portrait composition loses its top and bottom. Design inline images landscape or square.</p>
  </div>
</div>

## Voice here

A newsletter is read, not scrolled past. It earns the space for full arguments, in the same register as everything else: [3.3 How We Communicate](/brand/tone-of-voice.html). Subject lines follow the headline rule: an argument, not a label.

## Tools

- [Image Placeholder](/tools/image-placeholder.html), draft-stage imagery at exact header and feature dimensions

## Checklist

- [ ] Feature image present at 1456×1048, focal point centred
- [ ] Inline images landscape or square, uploaded at 2×, kept light
- [ ] Logo and wordmark slots carry the correct variants
- [ ] Subject line is an argument, not a label; body passes the voice check
- [ ] Test send checked in a real mail client before publishing