The name “Amazon” has become synonymous with the ability to buy pretty much anything. This appropriately named company started as an online bookstore, but now sells everything from food and baby supplies to computers and electronics. Founded by Jeff Bezos as “Cadabra” in 1994, Amazon is now a worldwide sensation with a highly recognizable brand and logo. However, it wasn’t always that way.
The Early Version
After Bezos renamed the company to “Amazon,” he pulled appropriate, if not-so-compelling, imagery that evoked the massive river of the same name. The first logo was an “A” with a river shape cut into it, set against a watery blue background with the name “Amazon.com” and tagline “Earth’s biggest bookstore” printed below. It resembled something that a third-grader might make in Mi- crosoft Paint. At this time, the brand was still clinging to the “dot-com” part of its name.
1997–1998
In 1997, Amazon abandoned the river imagery and adopted a simple wordmark, accompanied by its tagline. This clearly didn’t per- form well, because only a year later, Amazon changed the typeface yet again to a vaguely National Geographic-type design with a large orange “O.”
1998-2000
Still not satisfied, Amazon changed the typeface a third time to a lowercase serif and abandoned the orange “O” in favor of a curved orange underline. Some think that the curve is meant to represent forward momentum or innovation, while others believe it repre- sents the curvature of the Earth.
The Turn of the Millennium
It was designer Turner Duckworth who finally solidified Amazon’s logo into the friendly version we see today. Duckworth inverted the orange curve, shortened it, and added an arrow. The new design, which vaguely resembles a smile, now has a line pointing from the A to the Z. Duckworth made this choice to mirror the company’s expansive selection of products.
2012
Finally, Amazon dropped the “dot-com” from its logo, and effectively from its brand as well. Amazon now has brick-and-mortar sto- ries and technology that extends beyond the World Wide Web. The new logo retains the orange arrow but simply reads, “Amazon,” a name that symbolizes the brand’s promise to sell you anything you might desire, from A to Z.