This photo essay brings you through the design changes of Amazon's logo and its site from 1994 to 2014. Interestingly enough, Amazon's website and logo essentially did not change from 2008 to today.
During which…
In 1994, Amazon was born as the first major company to do e-commerce, and in 1995, Amazon opened for business. The company began by selling books on the Web. Later, in 1997, Amazon went public.
Amazon’s logo slightly, but strategically changed in 2000; they unveiled a “friendlier” logo. Rather than the downward curve underlining “amazon.com”, the new logo displayed an arrow-shaped smile beginning under the “a” and ending with a dimple under the “z”, to emphasize that Amazon offers anything from A to Z.
In 2005, Amazon Prime launched, changing the site’s design to emphasize this new membership option.
From 2008-2014, the website’s layout changed nearly unnoticeably. Its main change has been its growing promotion of Amazon Prime. Currently, Amazon Prime ads make up one third of the homepage.
During which…
In 1994, Amazon was born as the first major company to do e-commerce, and in 1995, Amazon opened for business. The company began by selling books on the Web. Later, in 1997, Amazon went public.
Amazon’s logo slightly, but strategically changed in 2000; they unveiled a “friendlier” logo. Rather than the downward curve underlining “amazon.com”, the new logo displayed an arrow-shaped smile beginning under the “a” and ending with a dimple under the “z”, to emphasize that Amazon offers anything from A to Z.
In 2005, Amazon Prime launched, changing the site’s design to emphasize this new membership option.
From 2008-2014, the website’s layout changed nearly unnoticeably. Its main change has been its growing promotion of Amazon Prime. Currently, Amazon Prime ads make up one third of the homepage.
This was Amazon's new logo from 1995. At the point, Amazon was only an online book store.
The following four logos represent the logos that Amazon switched to, chronologically, until 1998.
The following four logos represent the logos that Amazon switched to, chronologically, until 1998.
In 1998, Amazon launched its music section with 125,000 titles searchable by artist, song title and label.
Amazon's logo changed to the following, representing the site's new additions.
Amazon's logo changed to the following, representing the site's new additions.
In 1999, Amazon acquired 46% of Drugstore.com, entering the pharmacy market segment. Amazon offered every member a free first aid kit to publicize and celebrate this new acquisition and addition to Amazon.com.
In 2008, Amazon bought fabric.com, an online fabric store in order to facilitate custom measurements and cut fabrics, increasing Amazon's content.
Amazon Prime becomes the company's driving force for success, so much so that they change their logo to include "Prime". Amazon Prime becomes heavily prominent throughout Amazon's homepage, heavily impacting the number of memberships.