An email when it is worth it.
I send an email when there is something worth sharing. A new character, a look at the process, a limited edition drop or a studio update that actually matters.
The studio runs on drops, not on a calendar. When a character comes out of the kiln — photography locked, proof print approved, master copy signed — I write an email with the context: how it was made, what was decided, when the edition opens. And nothing else. What follows is what does go into that inbox, and what is never going to.
No weekly digest. No automations. No selling every Tuesday. Only the real thing, when it happens.
§ 08.1 · What to expect Four things. Those and nothing else.
Each email has a single subject. Four categories cover everything I actually write. If an email does not fit any of these, I probably will not send it:
New characters
Be the first to meet each new portrait. Name, short biography, one image not yet on social — before the drop is announced.
Process · from idea to print
How the portraits are made: research, session, post-production, paper proof, final call. A window into how the studio actually works.
Limited editions
Early access to drops before they open to the public, and a heads up when an edition is close to selling out — no artificial urgency.
Studio notes
Exhibitions on the horizon, collaborations taking shape, honest decisions about the project. No PR filter — we are three people, not a brand.
Frequency: when I have something real to say. Usually once or twice a month. Some weeks, none. That is a good sign — it means the studio is photographing, not writing.
§ 08.2 · Sample How it lands in your inbox
A real example from the last dispatch — so you can see the length, tone and structure. No templates with three CTAs, no heavy images, no invisible tracking pixels.
sent · 14 may 2026 · 09:14 CET
K · HOOD
2026
- From
- Yago Partal · YP Studio <mail@yagopartal.com>
- To
- you · subscriber #03 412
- Subject
- Otto · a black jacket, three months and one call
«I have had Otto on the table since February. Today the proof print came back approved on the paper — Photo Rag 308 gsm, not the satin. The drop opens in July: I will let you know a week before, no urgency…»
No limited-time-only promos, no countdown discount codes, no automated sequences. If you care about what happens in the studio, you care because it is real — not because you are being pushed to buy.
§ 08.3 · Subscribe One field. One click.
Step into the dispatch.
An email when there is something real to say. I let you know in time before each drop.
§ 08.4 · What you won't What you will not get
The studio runs on drops, not on a calendar. This is the honest list of everything I do avoid. If you miss any of these things, this newsletter is not for you:
- Weekly digest
There is nothing to digest. If a week goes by without news, that week I do not write.
- Automations
No drip campaign, no welcome flow, no "your cart is waiting". Zero sequences.
- Selling every Tuesday
The studio runs on drops, not on a calendar. Editions open when they are ready — not when it is convenient.
- Templates with three CTAs
Emails are written one by one. Plain text, one image at most, no red buttons shouting "BUY NOW".
- Countdown promos
No flash sale, no artificial urgency, no scarcity tactic. If an edition sells out, it sells out — and I say so without drama.
- Invisible tracking
Zero individual tracking pixels. The metric I look at is aggregate open rate, nothing else.
A good email is like a good show — it opens, it says one thing, it closes. The rest is noise with a logo.
Desk note · NEWSLETTER · 2026
If you made it this far, you are pretty much subscribed already. Drop your email above and see you in the next dispatch. If at some point it stops being useful in your inbox, one click and you are out — no exit forms, no "are you sure?", no win-back flow.