Previous Case
Problem
Problem
Research
Research
Development
Development
Results
Results
Next Case

Amazon Ads

Overview

Rising Stars is the flagship global campaign for Amazon Ads, spotlighting small and medium businesses (SMBs) across 11+ international marketplaces. For the 2026 season, Amazon partnered with Fix Studio to evolve the campaign’s creative direction and establish a cohesive, future-ready design system. This initiative was triggered by the campaign’s global growth outpacing its structural foundations, leading to regional inconsistencies in photography and color usage.


Working under an accelerated timeline, the project focused on aligning the Rising Stars identity with the 2025 Amazon Ads brand evolution, shifting toward a more premium, B2B-centric aesthetic while rebuilding the system for global scale and clarity.

Goals

The strategic objective was to "elevate, not replace" the existing identity. Key goals included:


  1. Visual Cohesion: Bringing a unified look to a campaign spanning highly varied global markets.

  2. Brand Integration: Seamlessly incorporating the updated Amazon Ads 2025 guidelines, including new typography, tone, and motion principles.

  3. Modular Scalability: Creating a flexible design system adaptable for social, web, and event formats.

  4. Photography Influence: Preparing visual foundations early enough to provide technical direction for January 2026 global shoots.

  5. Operational Efficiency: Reducing friction for regional teams through clear templates and comprehensive documentation.

My Role + Responsibilities

As the Visual Designer on this project, I was responsible for turning high-level strategy into tangible, scalable assets. My core focus areas included:


  1. Concept Development: Building early creative hypotheses and directions for the 2026 key art.

  2. Systematization: Developing modular layout systems for social templates using Figma symbols and components to allow for seamless regional updates.

  3. Visual Logic: Designing scalable shape systems, pattern logic, and grid structures that remained stable across different aspect ratios (9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9).

  4. Brand Translation: Directly translating the Amazon Ads 2025 update, including simplified geometry and new typographic hierarchies, into specific campaign applications.

  5. Cross-Functional Support: Collaborating on motion direction and preparing narrative-driven presentation decks for stakeholder reviews.

  6. Strategic Alignment: Ensuring all design explorations met the technical constraints of photography production and the requirements of the Amazon global strategist.

Team

Executive Director: Zach Ruden; Design Director: Alejandro Torres; Creative Director: Eric Thompson; Visual Designer: Artem Kireev; Motion Designer: Robert Johnson; Producer: Shaiza Lalji; Client (Amazon Ads): Kassandra Smykowski — Global Brand Strategist

Amazon Ads

Overview

Rising Stars is the flagship global campaign for Amazon Ads, spotlighting small and medium businesses (SMBs) across 11+ international marketplaces. For the 2026 season, Amazon partnered with Fix Studio to evolve the campaign’s creative direction and establish a cohesive, future-ready design system. This initiative was triggered by the campaign’s global growth outpacing its structural foundations, leading to regional inconsistencies in photography and color usage.


Working under an accelerated timeline, the project focused on aligning the Rising Stars identity with the 2025 Amazon Ads brand evolution, shifting toward a more premium, B2B-centric aesthetic while rebuilding the system for global scale and clarity.

Goals

The strategic objective was to "elevate, not replace" the existing identity. Key goals included:


  1. Visual Cohesion: Bringing a unified look to a campaign spanning highly varied global markets.

  2. Brand Integration: Seamlessly incorporating the updated Amazon Ads 2025 guidelines, including new typography, tone, and motion principles.

  3. Modular Scalability: Creating a flexible design system adaptable for social, web, and event formats.

  4. Photography Influence: Preparing visual foundations early enough to provide technical direction for January 2026 global shoots.

  5. Operational Efficiency: Reducing friction for regional teams through clear templates and comprehensive documentation.

My Role
+ Responsibilities

As the Visual Designer on this project, I was responsible for turning high-level strategy into tangible, scalable assets. My core focus areas included:


  1. Concept Development: Building early creative hypotheses and directions for the 2026 key art.

  2. Systematization: Developing modular layout systems for social templates using Figma symbols and components to allow for seamless regional updates.

  3. Visual Logic: Designing scalable shape systems, pattern logic, and grid structures that remained stable across different aspect ratios (9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9).

  4. Brand Translation: Directly translating the Amazon Ads 2025 update, including simplified geometry and new typographic hierarchies, into specific campaign applications.

  5. Cross-Functional Support: Collaborating on motion direction and preparing narrative-driven presentation decks for stakeholder reviews.

  6. Strategic Alignment: Ensuring all design explorations met the technical constraints of photography production and the requirements of the Amazon global strategist.

Team

Executive Director: Zach Ruden; Design Director: Alejandro Torres; Creative Director: Eric Thompson; Visual Designer: Artem Kireev; Motion Designer: Robert Johnson; Producer: Shaiza Lalji; Client (Amazon Ads): Kassandra Smykowski — Global Brand Strategist

Amazon Ads

Overview

Rising Stars is the flagship global campaign for Amazon Ads, spotlighting small and medium businesses (SMBs) across 11+ international marketplaces. For the 2026 season, Amazon partnered with Fix Studio to evolve the campaign’s creative direction and establish a cohesive, future-ready design system. This initiative was triggered by the campaign’s global growth outpacing its structural foundations, leading to regional inconsistencies in photography and color usage.


Working under an accelerated timeline, the project focused on aligning the Rising Stars identity with the 2025 Amazon Ads brand evolution, shifting toward a more premium, B2B-centric aesthetic while rebuilding the system for global scale and clarity.

Goals

The strategic objective was to "elevate, not replace" the existing identity. Key goals included:


  1. Visual Cohesion: Bringing a unified look to a campaign spanning highly varied global markets.

  2. Brand Integration: Seamlessly incorporating the updated Amazon Ads 2025 guidelines, including new typography, tone, and motion principles.

  3. Modular Scalability: Creating a flexible design system adaptable for social, web, and event formats.

  4. Photography Influence: Preparing visual foundations early enough to provide technical direction for January 2026 global shoots.

  5. Operational Efficiency: Reducing friction for regional teams through clear templates and comprehensive documentation.

My Role + Responsibilities

As the Visual Designer on this project, I was responsible for turning high-level strategy into tangible, scalable assets. My core focus areas included:


  1. Concept Development: Building early creative hypotheses and directions for the 2026 key art.

  2. Systematization: Developing modular layout systems for social templates using Figma symbols and components to allow for seamless regional updates.

  3. Visual Logic: Designing scalable shape systems, pattern logic, and grid structures that remained stable across different aspect ratios (9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9).

  4. Brand Translation: Directly translating the Amazon Ads 2025 update, including simplified geometry and new typographic hierarchies, into specific campaign applications.

  5. Cross-Functional Support: Collaborating on motion direction and preparing narrative-driven presentation decks for stakeholder reviews.

  6. Strategic Alignment: Ensuring all design explorations met the technical constraints of photography production and the requirements of the Amazon global strategist.

Team

Executive Director: Zach Ruden; Design Director: Alejandro Torres; Creative Director: Eric Thompson; Visual Designer: Artem Kireev; Motion Designer: Robert Johnson; Producer: Shaiza Lalji; Client (Amazon Ads): Kassandra Smykowski — Global Brand Strategist

Live Preview
Live Preview
Live Preview
Logo
Logo
Logo

Client

Amazon Ads - Global SMB Team

Category

Enterprise
Enterprise

Services

Global Branding | Visual Design

Timeline

December 2025

Product Duration

Q4 2025 - Q1 2026

Challenge

Challenge

Challenge

Rising Stars is the premier global campaign for Amazon Ads, spotlighting small businesses across 11+ international marketplaces. However, the program’s rapid success created a structural fracture: its global footprint had grown faster than its design system. Regional teams were producing independent interpretations of creative assets, resulting in visual fragmentation and inconsistent photography.


Simultaneously, the 2026 season required a critical brand pivot. We needed to migrate the campaign from a consumer-facing aesthetic (relaying on the legacy "smile" motif) to a premium, B2B-focused visual language aligned with the 2025 Koto-led rebrand. The challenge was to architect a system that could "elevate, not just replace" the existing DNA within a compressed timeline to influence January 2026 photography shoots.

Social Template 16x9
Social Template 16x9
Social Template 16x9

Research

Research

Research

The discovery phase focused on finding the intersection between strict governance and creative freedom. An intensive audit of the 2025 ecosystem revealed that the "smile" element was limiting versatility in professional contexts.


My strategy centered on the "Human Scale" concept. Rather than relying on graphic ornamentation, we shifted the visual weight to the subject. I defined a new narrative logic: every business spotlight would be built through three intentional images (a Portrait, a "Sitter with Object," and an Environment shot). This ensured that while the subjects changed across regions, the storytelling cadence remained identical. We also identified that the new "Star" motif needed to function as architectural framing, using grid logic and micro-patterns, rather than just a decorative sticker.

The discovery phase focused on finding the intersection between strict governance and creative freedom. An intensive audit of the 2025 ecosystem revealed that the "smile" element was limiting versatility in professional contexts.


My strategy centered on the "Human Scale" concept. Rather than relying on graphic ornamentation, we shifted the visual weight to the subject. I defined a new narrative logic: every business spotlight would be built through three intentional images (a Portrait, a "Sitter with Object," and an Environment shot). This ensured that while the subjects changed across regions, the storytelling cadence remained identical. We also identified that the new "Star" motif needed to function as architectural framing, using grid logic and micro-patterns, rather than just a decorative sticker.

The discovery phase focused on finding the intersection between strict governance and creative freedom. An intensive audit of the 2025 ecosystem revealed that the "smile" element was limiting versatility in professional contexts.


My strategy centered on the "Human Scale" concept. Rather than relying on graphic ornamentation, we shifted the visual weight to the subject. I defined a new narrative logic: every business spotlight would be built through three intentional images (a Portrait, a "Sitter with Object," and an Environment shot). This ensured that while the subjects changed across regions, the storytelling cadence remained identical. We also identified that the new "Star" motif needed to function as architectural framing, using grid logic and micro-patterns, rather than just a decorative sticker.

Idea
Idea
Idea

Process

Process

Process

Execution prioritized building usable foundations over static art. I engineered a modular Figma ecosystem designed to absorb regional variance without breaking the grid. Using advanced component properties, I built smart toggles that allow designers to instantly adapt layouts for 1-3 subjects, swap branding orientations, and cycle through color themes (Ivory, Squid Ink, Smile Orange) while maintaining accessibility standards.


A significant portion of development was the evolution of iconography. We retired the legacy "Smile" in favor of a "Star Arc" and "Rotating Constellation." I iterated through various geometries to ensure these elements added weight to the corners without competing with the human subject. To ensure consistency at the source, I authored a prescriptive Photography Field Guide. This document normalized the input across 30+ agencies by mandating technical specifics—35mm prime lenses for hero shots, f/4–f/8 apertures for consistent depth, and specific lighting ratios to create an "authentic, lived-in" aesthetic.

Guidelines
Guidelines
Guidelines

Output

Output

Output

The project successfully transformed a fragmented campaign into a scalable design operation. The core output was a "live" campaign shell and a suite of advanced motion templates (featuring the "Diagonal Staircase" principle) that allowed for seamless execution across web, social, and events.


By establishing these visual foundations early, we empowered the EU5 and APAC teams to enter their Q1 production cycles with clear, prescriptive briefs. The new system functions as a professional-grade kit of parts, allowing any region to build a campaign that fits their local needs while ensuring every asset globally adheres to the same premium structural logic.

  • More Works More Works

Puget Digital

Creative Direction, Web Design

Puget Digital

Creative Direction, Web Design

Puget Digital

Creative Direction, Web Design

Microsoft Copilot

Enterprise

Microsoft Copilot

Enterprise

Microsoft Copilot

Enterprise