# Amazon

> `amazon@1.0.0`

Amazon.com, Inc. is the global retail, devices, advertising, and cloud-services company headquartered in Seattle. The Amazon consumer brand is anchored on the "smile" wordmark — the orange arrow that runs from the "a" to the "z" — set in Amazon Ember against a white retail canvas with a deep-navy navigation band. The voice is utilitarian, customer-obsessed, and product-first; visual identity stays out of the way of the catalog while the signature orange does the brand-identity work at the page header and in the call-to-action buttons.


**Tags:** `retail`, `ecommerce`, `amazon`, `orange`, `corporate`, `parent-brand`

## Atoms

### Palette

**Amazon** · `amazon@1.0.0` · Proprietary — All Rights Reserved

> Amazon corporate palette built around Amazon Orange (#FF9900) — the signature "smile" color of the Amazon wordmark — paired with the deep-navy Amazon Squid Ink (#232F3E) used across the retail site chrome and the AWS console. The orange-on-navy contrast is the most recognizable element of Amazon's visual identity; the warm orange carries the brand voice while the navy provides the structural canvas. 

### Fonts

| Role | Font | License | Classification |
|------|------|---------|----------------|
| `heading` | **Amazon Ember** `(amazon-ember@1.0.0)` | Proprietary — All Rights Reserved | sans-serif |
| `body` | **Amazon Ember** `(amazon-ember@1.0.0)` | Proprietary — All Rights Reserved | sans-serif |
| `mono` | **JetBrainsMono Nerd Font** `(jetbrainsmono-nerdfont@1.0.0)` | OFL-1.1 | monospace |

## Swatches

| ID | Name | Value |
|----|------|-------|
| `amazon-orange` | Amazon Orange | `#FF9900` |
| `amazon-orange-dark` | Amazon Orange Dark | `#E47911` |
| `amazon-squid-ink` | Amazon Squid Ink | `#232F3E` |
| `amazon-squid-ink-light` | Amazon Squid Ink Light | `#37475A` |
| `amazon-anchor` | Amazon Anchor | `#131A22` |
| `amazon-yellow` | Amazon Yellow | `#FFD814` |
| `amazon-yellow-dark` | Amazon Yellow Dark | `#F7CA00` |
| `amazon-link` | Amazon Link | `#007185` |
| `amazon-link-hover` | Amazon Link Hover | `#C7511F` |
| `amazon-ink` | Amazon Ink | `#0F1111` |
| `amazon-gray` | Amazon Gray | `#565959` |
| `amazon-gray-light` | Amazon Gray Light | `#888C8C` |
| `amazon-surface` | Amazon Surface | `#EAEDED` |
| `amazon-white` | Amazon White | `#FFFFFF` |

## Mode role mappings

### Light mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `amazon-white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `surface` | `amazon-surface` | `#EAEDED` |
| `surface-elevated` | `amazon-white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-primary` | `amazon-ink` | `#0F1111` |
| `text-secondary` | `amazon-gray` | `#565959` |
| `text-tertiary` | `amazon-gray-light` | `#888C8C` |
| `primary` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `primary-hover` | `amazon-orange-dark` | `#E47911` |
| `accent` | `amazon-yellow` | `#FFD814` |
| `accent-hover` | `amazon-yellow-dark` | `#F7CA00` |
| `warning` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `warning-hover` | `amazon-orange-dark` | `#E47911` |
| `error` | `amazon-link-hover` | `#C7511F` |
| `success` | `amazon-link` | `#007185` |

### Dark mode

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `background` | `amazon-anchor` | `#131A22` |
| `surface` | `amazon-squid-ink` | `#232F3E` |
| `surface-elevated` | `amazon-squid-ink-light` | `#37475A` |
| `text-primary` | `amazon-white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-secondary` | `amazon-surface` | `#EAEDED` |
| `text-tertiary` | `amazon-gray-light` | `#888C8C` |
| `primary` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `primary-hover` | `amazon-orange-dark` | `#E47911` |
| `accent` | `amazon-yellow` | `#FFD814` |
| `accent-hover` | `amazon-yellow-dark` | `#F7CA00` |
| `warning` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `warning-hover` | `amazon-orange-dark` | `#E47911` |
| `error` | `amazon-link-hover` | `#C7511F` |
| `success` | `amazon-link` | `#007185` |

## Brand semantic roles

### Colors

| Role | Swatch | Hex |
|------|--------|-----|
| `identity` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `on-identity` | `amazon-ink` | `#0F1111` |
| `background` | `amazon-white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `surface` | `amazon-surface` | `#EAEDED` |
| `surface-elevated` | `amazon-white` | `#FFFFFF` |
| `text-primary` | `amazon-ink` | `#0F1111` |
| `text-secondary` | `amazon-gray` | `#565959` |
| `text-tertiary` | `amazon-gray-light` | `#888C8C` |
| `primary` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `primary-hover` | `amazon-orange-dark` | `#E47911` |
| `accent` | `amazon-yellow` | `#FFD814` |
| `accent-hover` | `amazon-yellow-dark` | `#F7CA00` |
| `mark` | `amazon-orange` | `#FF9900` |
| `text-emphasis` | `amazon-ink` | `#0F1111` |
| `text-muted` | `amazon-gray` | `#565959` |
| `chrome` | `amazon-squid-ink` | `#232F3E` |
| `chrome-deep` | `amazon-anchor` | `#131A22` |
| `link` | `amazon-link` | `#007185` |
| `link-hover` | `amazon-link-hover` | `#C7511F` |

### Typography

| Role | Font role key |
|------|---------------|
| `display` | `heading` |
| `prose` | `body` |
| `wordmark` | `heading` |
| `code` | `mono` |

## Rules

### 🛑 error (6)

#### `colorChoice` → `logo.wordmark.fill`

- **allowed:** amazon-orange, amazon-ink, amazon-white
- **forbidden:** amazon-orange-dark, amazon-yellow, amazon-link, amazon-gray

> The Amazon wordmark renders in Amazon Orange (the smile), near-black, or reversed white. The yellow and teal-link values are interactive-element colors and the orange-dark is a hover state — none are valid wordmark fills. 

#### `forbiddenTreatment` → `logo`

- **treatments:** stretched, rotated, recolored, drop-shadow, on-busy-photo, inverted-without-variant, smile-detached

> The Amazon "smile" mark — the orange arrow from a-to-z — is one of the most-protected commercial marks in retail. The smile is integral to the wordmark and must never be detached, recolored, or applied to a busy photographic background that breaks its legibility. 

#### `contrastRatio` → `text-primary`

- **against:** `background`
- **minRatio:** `4.5`
- **standard:** `WCAG-AA`

> Amazon Ink on Amazon White gives ~18:1 — well above WCAG 2.1 Level AA. The rule encodes the floor for any new foreground/background pairing on Amazon retail surfaces. 

#### `contrastRatio` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **against:** `background`
- **minRatio:** `3`
- **standard:** `WCAG-AA-large`

> Amazon Orange on Amazon White is contrast-marginal at small sizes — the rule enforces the AA-large floor and forbids reducing the orange CTA below sizes where it stops meeting that floor. 

#### `contextRestriction` → `roles.colors.accent`

- **forbiddenContexts:** error-state, validation-failure, destructive-action

> Amazon Yellow is the Add-to-Cart affordance — a positive, commerce-forward action. Repurposing it for errors or destructive actions conflicts with its established meaning on every Amazon retail page. 

#### `accessibilityRequirement` → `*`

- **standard:** `WCAG-AA`
- **criterion:** `1.4.3`

> WCAG 2.1 Success Criterion 1.4.3 (Contrast Minimum) — Level AA. The retail site's reach across global markets and assistive-tech users makes AA the floor for any new role pairing. 

### ⚠️ warning (2)

#### `enumMembership` → `typography.heading.fontWeight`

- **allowed:** 500, 700

> Amazon Ember on amazon.com retail headlines uses Medium (500) and Bold (700). Lighter cuts read as body copy and compromise the catalog-clarity voice the retail site depends on. 

#### `fontPairing` → `typography.heading`

- **requires:** `body`
- **minSizeRatio:** `1.4`

> Amazon retail product-detail headings run modestly larger than body copy — the catalog density favors a tighter hierarchy than marketing-led brands. A 1.4× floor preserves the display-to-prose distinction without overpowering the dense product information. 

### 💡 recommendation (1)

#### `compositionConstraint` → `roles.colors.primary`

- **pairsWith:** amazon-squid-ink, amazon-ink, amazon-white
- **doesNotPairWith:** amazon-link-hover

> The signature orange pairs cleanly with the navy chrome and the white canvas. Combining brand orange with the rust-toned link-hover orange on the same surface creates a two-orange composition that reads as a brand-hierarchy error. 

## Provenance

- **Source:** <https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/our-brand>
- **License:** `Proprietary — All Rights Reserved`
- **Attribution:** Amazon.com, Inc. — Amazon, the Amazon "smile" wordmark, Amazon Ember, and associated marks are registered trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. This atom captures brand-atoms' read of Amazon's publicly available brand-resources page and the visible style values on amazon.com; it is not an official Amazon brand-guidelines document. 
- **Imported:** `2026-05-17`
- **Notes:** The retail site (amazon.com) is light-mode-first with a fixed dark navigation band; the AWS console and developer surfaces operate bilingual light/dark themes. The yellow Add-to-Cart CTA is brand-distinct from the orange Buy Now CTA and is encoded as the accent role here. 

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*Generated by the brand-atoms converter. Source: `amazon@1.0.0` from the encyclopedia.*