Amazon's Old vs. New Logo: A Practical Comparison

Define the alternatives

Start by identifying what you are actually comparing. The phrase "old vs. new logo" usually refers to Amazon's wordmark revision, not the smile arrow or the shopping cart icon. The smile arrow remained the strongest recognition cue in both versions; what changed was the typography and the relationship between the wordmark and the symbol.

When you compare the two, state the intended use. Are you checking whether an old app icon still matches the current brand, preparing a screen recording where the logo appears, or choosing which version to use in a product mockup? The use case determines whether the difference matters.

Compare meaningful differences

The updated wordmark removed the heavy beveled lettering that had been common in earlier digital brand assets. The newer version uses a cleaner, flatter sans-serif treatment. That change affects how legible the word appears at small sizes, such as in a browser tab, a streaming interface, or a camera viewfinder overlay.

The smile remains the same bright orange curve in both eras, but in the revised lockup it is positioned directly under the wordmark as a connector. In the older lockup, the curve could appear as a separate graphic element that required more space. This affects how the logo behaves in square crops and on light or dark backgrounds.

Practical trade-offs

If you are placing the logo into a video overlay or a small badge, the flatter wordmark is easier to read because it has fewer fine highlights and shadows. The older beveled style could become muddy when scaled down or when compressed by a screen capture tool.

On a dark shopping page, the newer lockup commonly appears with the wordmark in a light color while the smile stays orange. That color split improves contrast, but it also means you need enough padding around the mark. Squeezing either version into a tight strip without space reduces recognition by more than the typography change alone.

Choose for the use case

Use the revised lockup for current product screens, modern interface mockups, and anything that represents the brand as it appears now. Use an older reproduction only when the context specifically refers to the previous era, such as a historical comparison, an archival screen recording, or a before-and-after redesign study.

If your goal is a test pattern for a camera or a streaming overlay, prefer the newer flat version on a neutral background. It remains legible under compression and does not rely on detailed bevel highlights that may disappear in low-resolution output.