Amazon embraces the beauty of books in new ad campaign

 Billboards from the recent Amazon books advertising campaign.
Billboards from the recent Amazon books advertising campaign.

We all love the romance of swanning to the bookstore to select a crisp new copy of that book we've been dying to read, but what happens when that perfect publication is missing from the shelves? Amazon is offering a solution, as it launches an ad campaign spotlighting its vast selection of books.

Launched earlier this year, the online retailer's ad campaign centred around all things reading, focussing on books as the centre of culture. The recently released second phase of the campaign celebrates "That reading feeling," with a number of vibrant illustrations commissioned to encapsulate the joy of entering a new fictional world. If you're interested in more design inspiration, our collection of the best design books could spark that next big idea.

Two examples of Amazon's new book ad campaign with Droga5
Two examples of Amazon's new book ad campaign with Droga5

Amazon has collaborated with design agency Droga5, to produce a number of billboards, social posts, and even audio adverts for radio. Central to the campaign is the concept of the transformative power of reading, celebrating the joy of immersing yourself in a good book.

The campaign features artwork from 19 different illustrators, all with unique styles and creative visions. Each artist was given a genre to represent, as well as a singular word to shape the basis of their design. The result is a divine blend of typographical styles and mixed-media illustrations that bring the genres to life.

Taking to Instagram, Droga5 says that the campaign aims to capture "that invisible magic that occurs between a reader and a book". The bespoke illustrations support "the rich tapestry of feelings that only a good read can bring", and for something as internal as reading, we feel that the new campaign has really embodied the intimacy of getting immersed in some fresh literature.

The design agency also shared an Instagram video spotlighting the artists behind the pieces. Each artist is represented through an animated snippet that showcases their artistic identity, attesting to the diversity of Droga5's vivid campaign.

While nothing beats that bookstore feeling, the convenience of Amazon Prime at our fingertips is sometimes a little too tempting. We're loving that Amazon isn't restricting us to the Kindle and embracing the power of paperback once again. If you're a fan of classic literature, check out this clever design. They say never judge a book by its cover, but this censored book cover makes any judgment almost impossible.