When Amazon was initially named “Cadabra, Inc.”, the purpose was to use it as a reference to “abracadabra”, meaning \u201cI create as I speak\u201d (as in, magic). Soon after, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ first lawyer contended that the reference was quite vague and controversial. Plus, when people are on the phone, they can sometimes mistake “Cadabra\u201d for “Cadaver”, meaning corpse or carcass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was then in the mid-90s when Bezos and MacKenzie (his wife) started looking for other alternatives. They registered their brand domain names as Awake.com, Browse.com, and Bookmall.com, and Relentless.com. Since website listings were alphabetically ordered at that time, he wanted a word starting with A that would pop up first in alphabetical searches. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As soon as he hit upon the word “Amazon,” the largest river on the planet, he was determined to go for it. He envisaged his brand would one day become world\u2019s leading bookstore. The new Amazon website URL was registered on November, 1, 1994. In the words of Bezos<\/a>, \u201cThis is not only the largest river in the world, it’s many times larger than the next biggest river. It blows all other rivers away.” Aside from emphasizing that he owned a library of books as enormous as the Amazon River in South America, Bezos liked that the name \u201cAmazon\u201d represented the wild and mysterious side of the Amazonian forest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The naming process isn\u2019t the only captivating fact about this retail business giant. The inception and evolution of its logo design are two other factors that made it equally famous and successful. In spite of all the high expectations, the Amazon logo has always been simple as Bezos didn\u2019t want to invest too much in branding. However, this didn\u2019t affect the value and success of the logo, which is readily recognized by people around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Amazon\u2019s first logo was created in 1995 and it was a literal version of the brand name: an ocean blue background with the letter \u201cA\u201d forming a trapezoid. There was also this curve that represented the Amazon River or forest crossing the A. The original logo was designed by Turner Duckworth, with the stylized \u201cA\u201d being the key element of the logo, symbolizing the contours of the famous South American river. Additionally, there was the wordmark \u201camazon.com\u201d and a caption \u201cEarth\u2019s biggest bookstore\u201d at the base of the logo, which showed the ambitious goals of the then online bookstore. The wordmark was written using a clean and simple sans-serif typeface. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since the first Amazon logo was created somehow towards the beginning of the digital age and there was only limited access to logo designing tools, critics weren\u2019t very positive about it. Many even termed it as busy and indecipherable. Some even went over to say that the use of the river within the logo was too \u201cclich\u00e9\u201d. Consequently, it represented the brand for only a short time (until 1997) when the logo was revised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1997, Amazon opted for a logo redesign, where the original one was replaced with a more detailed and refined version depicting the company\u2019s constant growth. The color palette was monochrome and the letters became bolder, whereas the logo was modified and made a little smaller. It still had the trapezoid, but with a zebra pattern resembling the river as well as a tree. The inclusion of \u201camazon.com\u201d in the second version of the logo indicated that the company somehow anticipated the dot-com hype in the coming years. The effort put in the planning and execution of the logo is truly commendable, but sadly, it was not attractive or professional enough to show the brand\u2019s real value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The year 1998 witnessed some of the most significant changes in the Amazon logo design and took it somewhat closer to what we see today. Interestingly, three different designs for the logo were created this year. The first one featured a simple wordmark \u201camazon.com\u201d in a clean serif typeface, with the tagline \u201cEarth\u2019s Biggest Bookstore\u201d written in capitals and sans-serif. This black and white logo was soon replaced by an entirely new design. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The next version featured the word \u201camazon\u201d in upper-case letters, with a huge yellow ring forming the letter \u201cO\u201d of its name. The tagline was missing from this version. This logo design represented the brand Amazon for several months, before being replaced by a new one towards the end of the year. This third version was the famous \u201cSwish\u201d design that became the basis for the Amazon logo we see today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The black lowercase wordmark \u201camazon.com\u201d was accompanied by a vibrant yellow swish below it. The yellow stroke was slightly arched at the center, creating a bridge-like feature that connects the past with the future. The wordmark was written in Officina Sans typeface, with the first part \u201cAmazon\u201d appearing bolder than the \u201c.com\u201d part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current Amazon logo was created in 2000, slightly modifying the yellow bridge-like curve to look like a smile, extending from A to Z of the word \u201cAmazon\u201d. Besides being a symbol of positivity and technological progress, the orange arrow is used to depict the huge variety of products available at Amazon. Turner Duckworth suggested using the yellow smile alone on the packaging boxes, turning them into a strong marketing tool. When customers received their parcels with a big smile on it, it gave a good impression about the company, thus enhancing their brand recognition and value. Amazon literally \u201cdelivers smiles to your door\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The new logo was launched in January, 2021 that replaced the shopping cart symbol that Amazon had been using for almost five years. It featured a brown box, resembling a plain packaging with a blue adhesive strip at the top with toothed edges. Within weeks of its launch, people started criticizing it as they felt that the new logo design reminded them of Adolf Hitler, with the jagged tape edges that resembled his toothbrush-style mustache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n People even took to social media to voice their opposition. It was then that Amazon changed the uneven edges of the blue tape to a plain blue tape, neatly folded at one edge \u2013 as if someone is opening the box. Nevertheless, people weren\u2019t yet satisfied with the change as they felt that it still resembled Hitler\u2019s features, instead of representing their customers\u2019 delightful smile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon after this change, Amazon\u2019s brand spokesperson said<\/a>, \u201cAmazon is always exploring new ways to delight our customers. We designed the new icon to spark anticipation, excitement, and joy when customers start their shopping journey on their phone, just as they do when they see our boxes on their doorstep,\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The orange arrow on the iconic Amazon logo serves three purposes. Firstly, it\u2019s made to look like a smile, resonating with the brand tagline \u201cdelivering smiles to customers\u2019 doorsteps\u201d. Secondly, the arrow suggests moving forward and reaching targets, which is perfectly in line with the company\u2019s history. Thirdly, when combined with the rest of the logo design, it has a very subtle similarity with a human face. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Research<\/a> has shown that humans have strong facial recognition and tend to trust people with smiling faces. By designing a logo that closely resembles a smiling face, Amazon is able to establish itself as a friendly, trustworthy organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re an online shopping lover and purchased something from Amazon, you\u2019re sure to have noticed their logo on the packaging box<\/a>. Every Amazon package has their famous logo displayed across the box, thus boosting their brand value and recognition. The impression is further enhanced by the color orange of the arrow, which is often associated with warmth, glee, and friendliness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the packaging boxes are hardy and often reused by customers to pack and ship other items, it only results in further promotion of the brand. In fact, this is one of the most effective marketing strategies of Amazon and an apt example of how packaging design<\/a> can boost your business. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, Amazon\u2019s smile program gives away 0.5% of the price of your exclusive AmazonSmile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice. It is an excellent example of how the e-commerce giant has built a part of their branding strategy around their logo design<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As one of the top e-commerce companies in the world, it will be exciting to see the range of innovations Amazon can spearhead in the future. While there\u2019s still a lot of scope to compete with bigger retail giants like The Alibaba Group, Target and Walmart, they\u2019re definitely working hard at their branding techniques. We\u2019ll look forward to how they continue improving and using their iconic logo as a crucial part of their advertising campaigns.<\/p>\n\n\n\nAmazon Logo \u2013 Background and Evolution<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Background](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_logos.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow Amazon logo looked like in 1995<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_1995.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow Amazon logo looked like in 1997<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_1997.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow Amazon logo looked like in 1998<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_1998.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCurrent Amazon logo since 2000<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_2000.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n2021 \u2013 Amazon gave a clever twist to its phone app logo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/Amazon_2021.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHow popular is the Amazon logo<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Endnote<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/designbro.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/conclusion-cta.png\")
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