As the world‘s largest online retailer, Amazon has left an indelible mark on the e-commerce landscape. But beyond its vast selection, speedy shipping, and ubiquitous brown boxes, one of the most recognizable elements of the Amazon brand is its signature typography. The fonts used across Amazon‘s website, mobile app, products, and marketing shape the experience of shopping on Amazon for millions of consumers every day.
So what exactly are these famous Amazon fonts, and how have they evolved over the company‘s 25+ year history? As a retail expert and consumer analyst, I‘ll take you on a deep dive into the type that has helped define Amazon‘s visual identity and customer experience.
Ember: The Face of Modern Amazon
Chances are, if you‘ve browsed Amazon.com anytime in the past few years, you‘ve encountered Ember. Launched in 2015, Ember is the primary font used across Amazon‘s US and international websites, as well as its mobile apps and advertising.
Ember is a humanist sans-serif typeface designed for Amazon by font foundry Dalton Maag. It aims to balance the friendliness of humanist fonts with the clarity of geometric sans-serifs. Defining characteristics of Ember include:
- Slightly rounded corners on characters like ‘a‘, ‘c‘, and ‘s‘ for an approachable feel
- A double-story lowercase ‘a‘ and ‘g‘ to improve legibility at small sizes
- Angled terminal strokes on lowercase ‘i‘, ‘j‘, ‘l‘ and ‘t‘ for a modern look
- A range of weights from thin to heavy for flexibility across interfaces
These subtle design details help make Ember extremely readable on screens of all sizes, especially smartphones. The font‘s clear, open shapes, ample character spacing, and distinct letterforms remain legible even at tiny sizes, which is crucial as more and more users shop Amazon on mobile.
In fact, a 2019 analysis by Statista found that nearly 206 million Amazon customers accessed the site exclusively through mobile devices, compared to just 130 million exclusively on desktop. What‘s more, Amazon‘s mobile app has been downloaded over 100 million times on Android devices alone as of 2020.
Ember‘s exceptional clarity at small sizes makes it ideally suited for this increasingly mobile-driven shopping landscape. As Amazon UX designer Wes Horbatuck noted in 2016:
"Fonts at Amazon need to work globally, across many languages, on many different devices, and in multiple environments. Ember works hard everywhere while maintaining its unique personality."
That "unique personality" Horbatuck mentions is key to making Ember feel like a true Amazon font, and not just another generic sans-serif. Despite being highly legible, Ember avoids feeling clinical or cold. Its humanist influences and rounded corners give it an inviting, customer-friendly demeanor in line with Amazon‘s brand.
Bookerly: The Kindle‘s Dedicated Font
In addition to Ember, Amazon has also created a dedicated font for its popular Kindle e-readers called Bookerly. Replacing the previous Kindle fonts Caecilia and Tiro, Bookerly was introduced in 2015 with the launch of the Kindle Oasis.
Unlike Ember, Bookerly is a serif typeface, meaning it has the small projecting lines at the ends of character strokes. Serifs are generally thought to improve readability of long-form text, which makes them well-suited to e-books and digital reading.
Bookerly builds on this readability with qualities like:
- Generous character spacing and slight text expansion for improved rhythm
- Gradually changing stroke widths that mimic pen-drawn lettering
- Unique serif shapes that remain crisp at small sizes
- Heavier punctuation and hyphenation for easier flow between lines and pages
With Bookerly, Amazon aimed to create a more book-like digital reading experience that reduces eyestrain over long periods. It can be used in several different weights, sizes, and spacings that readers can adjust based on their preferences.
According to a 2018 PublishDrive study, the average Kindle reader spends almost 22 minutes per reading session. Bookerly‘s considerate, highly-optimized design helps make those long reading sessions more comfortable and immersive.
As Amazon Typography Director Ben Nathan explained in a 2016 interview:
"Bookerly was hand-crafted for the digital environment, to be as robust and readable as possible under different screen and environmental conditions. Letters are designed to flow effortlessly from one to the next, creating a pleasant, easy rhythm for the reader."
The Evolution of the Amazon Logo
Of course, no discussion of Amazon‘s typography would be complete without touching on the famous logo. The current logo consists of the Amazon wordmark in a customized version of Officina Sans Bold with a curved arrow connecting the ‘a‘ to the ‘z‘ to represent Amazon‘s wide selection – "from A to Z."
However, the Amazon logo has gone through quite an evolution since the company‘s early days. Let‘s take a quick look at how it has changed:
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1994: Amazon‘s very first logo featured a stylized letter ‘A‘ made of wavy black lines over a marbled aqua background. The full company name "Amazon.com" was set in Officina Serif Bold.
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1997: The waves and marble texture were replaced with a cleaner design. "amazon.com" was written in black Officina Sans Bold under a semi-abstract river shape, suggesting the Amazon river.
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1998: This logo featured the "amazon.com" wordmark inside a black circle, along with the tagline "Earth‘s biggest bookstore." ITC Officina Sans was used again.
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1999: As Amazon expanded beyond books, it dropped the "Earth‘s biggest bookstore" tagline. The edge of the black circle was also softened.
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2000-present: Amazon‘s logo took on its current form with the introduction of the curved "smile" arrow. The arrow was meant to represent Amazon‘s growing selection and its intent to make customers happy.
Interestingly, the evolution of Amazon‘s logo mirrors the company‘s own transformation from a small online bookseller to the sprawling "everything store" it is today. As Amazon expanded its selection and global reach, its logo became increasingly streamlined and abstract.
The current iteration‘s minimalist text and suggestive "smile" help convey key brand attributes like friendliness, ease-of-use, and customer-centricity. In my experience, these are precisely the qualities shoppers have come to expect from Amazon, which may explain why the logo has remained unchanged for over 20 years.
Similar Fonts to Ember and Bookerly
If you like the look of Amazon‘s fonts but can‘t actually use them in your own projects, there are plenty of alternatives available. For Ember, popular look-alikes include:
- Lato – A warm yet stable sans-serif font
- Roboto – Google‘s highly-adaptable Neo-Grotesque font
- Noto Sans – A highly-readable font that supports over 100 languages
- Open Sans – A humanist font designed for legibility on screens
For fonts similar to Bookerly, you can try:
- Merriweather – A serif font with a mix of styles
- Crimson Pro – An oldstyle serif font for long-form text
- Lora – A well-balanced serif font with moderate contrast
- Bitter ht – A slab serif with smooth curves
Keep in mind that while these may be reminiscent of Amazon‘s type, they aren‘t exact copies. It‘s best to view and test them to see how well they match your desired style and use case.
Putting the Fonts to Work
The combination of Ember for Amazon‘s storefronts and marketing along with Bookerly for Kindle makes for a highly effective typography system. The two families both prioritize readability across interfaces while still having their own distinct personalities.
Ember‘s geometric-humanist hybrid design feels current and approachable, with its rounded corners and angled terminals giving it a progressive edge. The font is professional without being overly formal, which fits Amazon‘s position as a convenient, customer-focused brand.
Bookerly, on the other hand, is more classical, featuring tried-and-true hallmarks of fonts designed for extended reading. Yet it‘s not old-fashioned or stodgy – just familiar enough to make the Kindle feel like a modern reinvention of the printed book.
From a branding perspective, this two-pronged approach makes sense, as Amazon‘s e-commerce platform and Kindle are distinct but interconnected experiences. Using a contemporary sans-serif for the website and apps attracts a wide audience and keeps the focus on products, while a dedicated serif font elevates the Kindle as a premium reading experience.
Accessibility and Inclusivity
It‘s important to note that Amazon‘s focus on typography extends beyond just aesthetics and branding. The company has also taken steps to make its fonts more accessible and inclusive.
Both Ember and Bookerly have been optimized to maintain their readability for users with visual impairments like low vision or color blindness. Bookerly can be scaled up to massive sizes for easier reading, and Ember has strong color contrast when used according to Amazon‘s guidelines.
What‘s more, Amazon has introduced tools to help visually impaired customers more easily navigate its website and apps. For example, the company recently launched a feature called "Show and Tell" that uses computer vision and AI to help blind and low-vision users identify products.
While there is always room for improvement when it comes to digital accessibility, Amazon‘s attention to inclusive typography and assistive features shows how seemingly small design choices can have a big impact on user experience.
Tips for Choosing E-Commerce Fonts
As an e-commerce business owner, it‘s easy to focus on things like product selection, pricing, and marketing. But as Amazon‘s thoughtful font choices demonstrate, typography can also play a key role in shaping how customers perceive and engage with your brand.
Here are some tips for picking fonts for your own online store:
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Prioritize readability: Above all, make sure your font choices are easy to read at various sizes across devices. Pay attention to characteristics like character spacing, x-height, and overall clarity.
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Limit your selections: Using too many different fonts can make your site look cluttered and unprofessional. Stick to a simple palette of one to three fonts maximum.
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Consider your audience: Different fonts evoke different moods and associations. Think about what kinds of fonts will resonate with your target customer and reinforce your desired brand image.
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Maintain consistency: Once you‘ve chosen your fonts, use them consistently across your entire website, apps, and marketing materials. Developing a clear typographic identity helps create a cohesive, memorable brand.
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Don‘t forget accessibility: Make sure your font choices are inclusive of users with visual impairments or assistive technologies. Use strong color contrast, clear visual hierarchies, and ample whitespace.
Conclusion
Amazon‘s Ember and Bookerly fonts are more than just a couple of nice-looking typefaces. They are key components of the company‘s meticulously crafted brand experience, with wide-ranging impacts on customer perception and usability.
By balancing readability, personality, and flexibility, these fonts help Amazon create digital interfaces that feel intuitive and trustworthy to shop. At the same time, the contrast between the modern, friendly Ember and the classical, book-like Bookerly allows Amazon to strategically differentiate its e-commerce and reading platforms.
But beyond the realm of Amazon itself, the company‘s typographic choices serve as a valuable case study for any business operating online. In a digital world increasingly saturated with homogenous design trends, investing in distinctive, user-centric typography is one way to make your brand stand out and cultivate customer trust.
Whether you‘re a solopreneur just starting an online shop or an established retailer looking to optimize your e-commerce presence, taking a page out of Amazon‘s book (or should I say, Kindle) and carefully considering your fonts just might be the secret weapon you need to take your business to the next level.
