SBG Funding Email Template System

SBG Funding provides fast, flexible specialty lending solutions to small businesses, and email is a primary channel for how they engage new customers. When SBG engaged us, they initially sought a functionality-focused update: a modular email template system that could support a wide range of communications, from promotional sends to automated nurture flows. It quickly became clear that the broader system’s branding and visuals needed to better connect with the people and businesses SBG provides funding for. Many competitors in SBG’s space often default to sharper, more institutional visuals. No one can contest the importance of credibility, but why not approachability, too? For a target demographic that is often overlooked for traditional bank loans, personal connection and empathy are differentiators. Working with an illustrator, we developed a “Sketchbook” illustration style that blends pencil texture with soft color accents. We applied this style to a custom illustration suite that depicts scenes inspired by the industries SBG serves, paired with a hand-drawn icon system, too. Both help messages feel more personal and aligned with the everyday realities of small business owners. The template system’s clean typography, generous spacing, and clearly defined content blocks make messages easier to scan and act on, while giving the SBG team a consistent framework they can reuse across campaigns. Together, the templates and visual assets give SBG a cohesive, flexible email system built for daily use — one that supports marketing needs while making use of visuals to present lending communications with greater warmth and approachability.