Vandelay Website Design Blog

50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus

When I’m looking at excellent websites for design inspiration, one of my favorite aspects of design to notice is the navigation menu. While I enjoy seeing excellent designs of all types (minimal to artistic to colorful to dark) and various aspects of the site (including headers and footers), a well-designed and well-executed navigation menu can have more impact on my appreciation of a site than any other single piece of the design.

In this post I’d like to take a look at more than 50 stellar examples of navigation menus that positively impact the design of a website. The list includes a great deal of variety. Regardless of what you personally prefer, there should be some inspirational examples in here for you.

For more design inspiration, see:

Housing Works

30elm

Nuttersmark

Paiko

Good

Soh Tanaka

Matt Dempsey

Web Design Ledger

Bridge55

Rzepak Pure

Fall for Tennessee

Digitalmash

BlackBook Magazine

Thuiven

Valley Creek Church

Branded07

Kyan

Carbonica

Remedy Drive

SpaceCollective

Aten Design Group

Power to the Poster

Lift Interactive

Surfstation

Ad Fed

College Park Church

WWD

Jamie’s Italian

StyleSpion

Grooveeffect

Rockatee

Boxwish

The Resume Girl

Vitor Lourenco

Ashville School

Buffalo

Africa Tour 2008

Designsensory

Jobs on the Wall

Aptana

Stucel

MacAllen Ridge

Create and Live

The 9513

Scott Mallinson

Paolo Boccardi

Interactive

Mint

DrupalCon DC

New Song Church

45royale

Mia & Maggie

For more design inspiration, see:

Originally Published November 10th, 2008

73 Responses

  1. Felix | November 10th, 2008 at 11:30 pm

    Superb list. Thanks for featuring our site.

  2. Henry Jones | November 10th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

    Thanks for including us here with such great company.

  3. Vandelay Design | November 11th, 2008 at 12:29 am

    Felix and Henry,
    You’re welcome. Excellent work!

  4. links for 2008-11-11 — Resurgence 2.0 | November 11th, 2008 at 4:04 am

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design (tags: design webdesign navigation menus) […]

  5. Dor Dan | November 11th, 2008 at 4:27 am

    Thanks for including and neat list as well!

  6. Scott Mallinson | November 11th, 2008 at 4:48 am

    Many thanks for including my site in the list. There are some great examples that I haven’t seen before.

  7. Andy | November 11th, 2008 at 4:51 am

    God, there’s so much talent about!

    Do you actually do any work or do you spend your day looking at everybody elses work? ;)

  8. Heiko | November 11th, 2008 at 5:22 am

    Thank you very much for featuring my site!
    Am really flattered right now :)

    Keep up the good postings!

  9. Bram Van der Sype | November 11th, 2008 at 5:40 am

    Great post! Very nice for some inspiration!

  10. Andrea Gandino | November 11th, 2008 at 7:05 am

    This is truly a great and inspiring list; some stunning examples here, nicely done, thanks for sharing!

  11. Vandelay Design | November 11th, 2008 at 7:54 am

    Andy,
    Not as much work as I used to. Surfing around is actually part of my job now, it’s pretty cool.

  12. eganm | November 11th, 2008 at 10:21 am

    Great stuff. Vandelay is an awesome design reference!!!!!!

  13. 10 Most Beautiful Picks From Over 50 Navigation Examples | WDI | Web Design Ideas Inspirational and Informational Blog | November 11th, 2008 at 11:11 am

    […] excellent post by Vandelay Design, 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus. I went through it and here are 10 that I liked the most from his […]

  14. Conor | November 11th, 2008 at 11:26 am

    Some more great stuff there! Well done for putting together yet another great collection :) I’ve been spreading the word about your blog

  15. Chad | November 11th, 2008 at 12:24 pm

    Great post… i do agree… I love a good navigation… it sets apart the good and the great…. Fantastic post

  16. Michael Austin | November 11th, 2008 at 12:42 pm

    Wish we made the list. Maybe next time http://www.michaelaustinproductions.com

  17. Christine Range | November 11th, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    A very nice collection of navigation menus. Some are unusually interesting but they definitely have an impact. Thanks for the inspiration, I picked up some good ideas for mine.

  18. Timothy | November 11th, 2008 at 2:54 pm

    Some of these were great. Some not so much. Example: the website Good. Very bland navigation. Could use something more attractive while maintaining simplicity.

  19. 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus la zilnic.net - stay tuned - hourly updates | November 11th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    […] menu can have more impact on my appreciation of a site than any other single piece of the design. via Views: 0 Comments: 1 Posted on : elbandito on 22 August, 2008 10:38:22 Daca ai […]

  20. Tommunication.com - marketing, communications and public relations 2.0 » Blog Archive » links for 2008-11-11 | November 11th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design (tags: webdesign list design inspiration navigation webdevelopment) […]

  21. Vandelay Design | November 11th, 2008 at 7:46 pm

    Timothy,
    Obviously I disagree since I included Good on this list. Yes, it’s simple, but that appeals to me. Thanks for sharing your opinion though.

  22. Blog Design Trends and Examples (Plus More) | Blog Tipz | November 11th, 2008 at 10:52 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus [Vandelay Website Design] — From the same writer/compiler as the Smashing Magazine article (Steven Snell), you’ll find additional inspiration if you’re focusing on designing a more functional and better designed navigation menu - one of the most important areas of any site. […]

  23. Tom Ross | November 11th, 2008 at 11:14 pm

    Wow, very inspiring stuff. I especially like the Rzepack Pure nav.

  24. Javascrips for Gallery « Websitetutorials’s Blog | November 12th, 2008 at 1:31 am

    […] http://vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/inspirationalnavigation-menus/ […]

  25. Daily Digest for 2008-11-11 | Midlife Manifesto | November 12th, 2008 at 2:04 am

    […] Bookmarked a link on Delicious. 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design […]

  26. Thomas | November 12th, 2008 at 3:13 am

    Thanks Steven, Great list

  27. La palette de webdesign du mercredi | taggle.org | November 12th, 2008 at 4:32 am

    […] 50 menus de navigation bien jolis […]

  28. Justin Mather | November 12th, 2008 at 5:46 am

    one that i recently found, that i really love is: http://www.weareskylarkin.com/

  29. Hediye | November 12th, 2008 at 8:05 am

    Cool, thanx!

  30. Rob Palmer | November 12th, 2008 at 10:08 am

    Thankyou muchly for the inclusion!

  31. DPW | November 12th, 2008 at 11:41 am

    Great list,

    I also feel like another commentator that some of them are a little bland/ almost repetitive

    Some of them are quite wonderful intheir unique ways - Carbonica for example

  32. Kelly | November 12th, 2008 at 5:10 pm

    Great collection and awesome variety. It’s nice to see some very simple plain text menus featured along side the graphic-intense menus.

  33. 50 Bellissimi Menu di Navigazione da cui prendere ispirazione « Fedeweb | November 13th, 2008 at 4:02 am

    […] Però è anche bene non limitarci a fare i soliti, tradizionali menu ma creare qualcosa di nuovo, di originale ed è per questo che VanDelayDesign ha fatto una raccolta di più di 50 menu da cui prendere spunto. […]

  34. Soh | November 13th, 2008 at 4:31 am

    Thanks again! :-) Beautiful list~

  35. Interessante Links - Tom Schimana | November 13th, 2008 at 4:01 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  36. Menús de navegación | Isopixel | November 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    […] 50 hermosos menus de […]

  37. Ethan’s Blog » Blog Archive » End of Week 3 | November 14th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    […] 50 CSS Navs […]

  38. Links for Sunday #4 | November 16th, 2008 at 5:20 am

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  39. Apple PowerBook | November 16th, 2008 at 8:17 am

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design […]

  40. Bryan P. | November 16th, 2008 at 3:50 pm

    Wow, quite a list there. It must have taken some time to compile.

  41. 50 Gorgeous Navigation Menus - Part 2 | Vandelay Website Design | November 16th, 2008 at 8:29 pm

    […] week I published a collection of over 50 excellent navigational menus for your design inspiration. Because I found more examples than I used in that post, and because […]

  42. 100+ menus de navigation | Marc Decerle | November 17th, 2008 at 12:13 am

    […] Part 1 […]

  43. Webdesign Rosenheim | November 17th, 2008 at 3:26 am

    Great Collection! Congratulations!

  44. download punjabi songs | November 17th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

    nice list… really cool menus.. love all of them … now i just have to learn how to use them … bit new to websites..

  45. Max Design - standards based web design, development and training » Some links for light reading (18/11/08) | November 17th, 2008 at 5:30 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  46. Acai Berry | November 17th, 2008 at 11:35 pm

    Do you offer design services?

    Those are extremely elaborate designs..

    I would be interested in securing your services. =)

  47. Vandelay Design | November 18th, 2008 at 12:50 am

    Acai,
    Yes, we do offer design services, but these are not examples of our own work, just exemplary work from various designers.

  48. 50 creativos sistemas de navegación | ARTEgami | November 18th, 2008 at 9:02 am

    […] Vandelay Design nos cuentan que en busca de lindos diseños, decidieron crear una galería con ejemplos de lo que […]

  49. isabellenewton | November 18th, 2008 at 1:02 pm

    Great list of navigation examples. I always think that the navigation of the site is one of, if not THE, most important part of the design. At the end of the day, the site can look amazing but if no one can get to the information they want to find they are going to click away and, more than likely, not come back.

  50. Links for 2008-11-20 [Del.icio.us] | Blog do Camillo - O dia-a-dia de um Desenvolvedor Web | November 20th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

    […] 50 menus de navegação Compartilhe o post:                   […]

  51. fay | November 25th, 2008 at 12:41 am

    Thanks for such a great list!
    I really enjoy the variety, each site is unique in some way!

  52. burning windmill | November 26th, 2008 at 12:38 pm

    Some very inspirational sites there :-)

  53. Preisvergleich | November 28th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    Thanks a lot for layouts. A new article about buttons would be very useful too.

  54. 11 Ways to Improve a Blog Theme Without a Complete Re-Design | December 4th, 2008 at 10:51 am

    […] menus. Navigation is often one of the most noticeable and significant aspects of the design (see 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus and  50 Gorgeous Navigation Menus - Part II for inspiration). A more attractive menu could make […]

  55. Jam | December 4th, 2008 at 9:53 pm

    AMAZING!. Loved most of them. They´re really inspiring. I will be talking about this post in my blog hopping my readers come and have a look. Thanks ;)

  56. Daily Links | AndySowards.com :: Professional Web Design, Development, Programming, Hacks, Downloads, Math and being a Web 2.0 Hipster? | December 5th, 2008 at 9:05 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design Great list of Inspirational navigation menus! (tags: design webdev webdevelopment interface menus web2 examples nav navigation patterns inspiracion gui ui web-design menu graphicdesign showcase CSS web2.0 list webdesign web Resources website html inspiration gallery development lists ux) […]

  57. dash | December 8th, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    thank you great inspiration for sure

  58. [arte e vício] » Blog Archive » A solução para blogueiros e designers sem inspiração e mais tutoriais e geradores | December 9th, 2008 at 1:21 am

    […] 50 incríveis menus de navegação - se você consegue aplicar exatamente aquilo que vê, então essa é uma boa fonte de inspiração para menus. […]

  59. Micah Slavens | December 18th, 2008 at 11:41 pm

    thanks for the mention! these are all really great examples — good post.

  60. Universal Serial Blog » Lista de los 75 mejores recursos para diseño del 2008. | December 20th, 2008 at 2:13 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus [Vandelay Website […]

  61. tmtbox media | Top 75 Best Design Resources of 2008 | December 21st, 2008 at 6:50 am

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus [Vandelay Website […]

  62. COFFEE CUP||咖啡杯 » Top 75 Best Design Resources of 2008 | December 21st, 2008 at 10:59 am

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus [Vandelay Website […]

  63. 2008 Most Popular Design posts, Tutorials and Resources | December 21st, 2008 at 8:57 pm

    […] 9. 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  64. My Today’s Diigo 12/23/2008 « Rif.webmemo | December 23rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus | Vandelay Website Design […]

  65. 25 Examples of Creative Navigation | Vandelay Website Design | December 24th, 2008 at 10:35 am

    […] addition to being one of the most significant influences on the usability of a site, navigation menus also allow designers an opportunity to get creative and add some interesting and attractive visual […]

  66. Web Design Blog Articles Best of Best 2008 | DESIGNwalker max | December 30th, 2008 at 2:48 pm

    […] 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  67. John | December 31st, 2008 at 7:18 am

    I love these lists, but I’ve read an article recently on “Inspiration Overload”. I hope you don’t mine me posting a link. (Remove it if you want).
    http://www.viget.com/inspire/overcoming-inspiration-overload/

    Basically, it says that there are people (you know who you are) that tend to get overwhelmed by too much design inspiration, and don’t know what to do with it all. In the “good old days” an inspiring piece would appear in the form of a Frazetta painting or an album cover. You really had to seek out the good stuff. Nowadays (is that a word?) we are surrounded by stunning work from countless talented people. The trick is knowing when to stop looking and when to start working!

  68. Vandelay Design | December 31st, 2008 at 8:30 am

    John,
    No problem posting the link, it’s relevant to the post. Yes, I agree with you.

    The trick is knowing when to stop looking and when to start working!

  69. 2008 Most Popular Design posts, Tutorials and Resources | Web Hosting and Domains | December 31st, 2008 at 5:26 pm

    […] 9. 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  70. 2008 Most Popular Design posts, Tutorials and Resources | SulVision | December 31st, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    […] 9. 50+ Gorgeous Navigation Menus […]

  71. Best Coffee Makers | January 1st, 2009 at 8:56 am

    Wow, what a nice collection of navigation menus. A lot of them are quite artistic but the simple ones are cool too.

  72. Best of the web - November 2008 | zbStudio.net | January 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    […] Gorgeous Navigation Menus Part1 & […]

  73. Tacoma Web Site and Graphic Design Firm - Ainsworth Studio | January 2nd, 2009 at 12:14 pm

    […] for New Song Ministry in Tacoma, WA (now City Central.org) because it was recognized in a post of Gorgeous Navigation Menus (near the […]

Leave a Reply