Navigation is one of the most important aspects of a web design, but this doesn’t mean it needs to be overly complicated or over designed. In fact, when it comes to navigating a website, simplicity is a good thing.
Some navigations make use of design elements like 3D bars, buttons, and tabs to appear clickable, which works great for certain web designs. However, clickability can be achieved with a focus on typography, placement, and maybe some subtle line work. For this article, we’ve rounded up 30 clean and minimal website navigations that will inspire you and prove that navigations don’t always have to look like 3D buttons to be effective.
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55 Comments
Umm… honestly, I have to admit that none of the above looks nice. I’ve seen a lot of minimal layouts and even more minimal navigation and I can point many that looks better. Perhaps these newest trends aren’t very minimal after all π
“Umm... honestly, I have to admit”, Nathan your mistake here is to admit something that to others can see as minimal websites. That`s the usual mistake we all do from time to time, “admitting” is very different from an opinion. Unless one of the websites above is yours, to admit something like this implies that you had to do something on the creation of that specific “thing”.
Alex.
Wow, yet another web design blog mentioning my redesigned website… It appears I’ve done something right at last. Thanks a lot for the link!
Kilian
I think there are some great examples of minimal and clean website navigation above. I agree with Nathan in saying that the examples don’t look fantastic as screenshots, but when you navigate to the actual website, this is when the design really shines through.
The navigation complements the design of the whole site really well which makes me want to carry on looking through the site.
Some of my favourites – Miguel Buckenmeyer & Co. Brian Hoff and Sugar Rush Creative.
Beautiful. I love minimal website. Thanks for the list!
Have to say i disagree with nathan (sorry)
I love the collection… take a look at my website as we use ultra minimal site navigation.
James – Lono Creative.
Erhm, what’s minimalistic about 60% of the examples? They’re “normal” and not minimalistic at all.
I’m absolutly loving “Sugar Rush Creative”, I’ve always been a massive fan of this navigation.
A nice list, although in my opinion, a few don’t deserve to be up there.
Loving the majority though!
I’m a minimalist at heart. Thanks for the fodder. π
These are awesome. I love the Jacob Lee menu.
What I don’t like about these types of posts – while the above are potentially inspiring, these types of posts don’t break down the why’s of why a minimal navigation is successful. Why should someone mimic this style in their own work? Why should a client strive for this type of clear minimalism?
Minimalism is the direction were heading in. This is great inspiration for our designers. Thanks bunches!
AWESOME. I LOVE minimalism. I currently reworking my site to better attain my love for minimalism and typography. Thanks for the great inspiration.
Only two of the sites listed above are retail or business-to-business outside of the web design world; only two sell something other than the site’s owner or his design services. That’s not a heartening observation.
I’m working with a client right now and we’re struggling with an “evolutionary, not revolutionary” reboot of her website. In the AIDA paradigm, she has plenty of attention from her niche. The biggest challenge of all is still what every designer faces: after “Attention,” how do we go to “Interest, Desire, and Action?” She has a broad category scheme for thousands of products, and designing the home page and interior wayfinding to support visitor clarity with respect to the “Why am I here?” and “What should I do (other than leave)?” questions has occupied much of my time recently.
The examples here are all boutique and, quite frankly, the Faberge’ eggs of navigation. Pretty, but do they really help visitors find what they want?
These websites are great. I love Infintium’s Navigation Menu.
good resources and excellent examples. .. I’m a big fan of minimlaistic design so these are great! Shout’s my personal fav…
Great list. Some fantastic navigation options on here.
one of the most important part of a website and you find some great navigation’s here. very inspiring and useful
Another great example: https://www.storypixel.com
No, is not a good example, looks bad..
I agree with Darlinton.
It’s not a nice site, but then it’s always really easy to be critical of others. Who am I to be critical
A
I basically modelled my website to be as minimal as possible. http://www.quickpixfix.com I would love to know what you think. Nav is nice and minimal. π
Wow this one is great list resorces!
But this post should break down “why minimal navigation is successful”. and maybe describing the information can make this post really usefull for everyone and the community. thx for share!
Awesome list. Minimalistic design is really the trend this year.
Nice collection..
Nice… great inspirational stuff
Found few more…
https://www.broadbandmix.co.uk
https://ilovetypography.com
https://astheria.com
https://www.rikcatindustries.com
Nice article..Iam a minimalist…i like the color cubic and sugar rush creative.
Very Nice Collection. I like most of them π
Very clean and easy for users to navigate.
Seems that nowadays navigation menu with link description under the link is pretty popular
Great information!
Muchas gracias por estos ejemplos, siempre sirven.
Total nav failers. Too simple.
Nothing inspirational!
Very nice collection of minimal navigation samples. Check out our site for our version of minimal navigation menu.
nice collection! thx!
Some nice examples, but what worries me is that several of these sites’ navigation would be unreadable by many people with vision problems. So many designers, even on ‘public’ rather than ‘personal’ sites, seem to know – or care – nothing about the most basic accessibility considerations. The designer/developer needs to inform and educate clients about these considerations or they’re not doing their job and the client gets a compromised product.
Yes, I found these easy to use too. Nice post. Thanks for sharing.
great examples!
Amazing stuff as usual…
Do you mind if I use the information I got reading from this website on the project that I’m working? I will properly cite you.
Some of these NAV styles are awesome, but some of them are AWFUL.
The worst offenders are Websiteburo and Corking Designs. The text is practically invisible. I am not blind and the design is barely accessible.
Nice little collection, thanks for yet another list π
just one word “outstanding”
Great list but you could add some more like mrkwvr or minimalissimo. Anyway thanks for sharing that great list !
Fabulous, absolutely stunning.
Nothing beats simplicity when it comes to websites, users adore it. That’s what I have found anyway. I really like the Big Cartel nav, it’s very smooth indeed.
Thanks for the ideas!
Just one word “OUTSTANDING”
my favorite is “Color Cubic”
Thanks from EGYPTTTT
Great list, some very nice examples of clean and simple navigation, a few were almost too simple π
great collection
Thanks for featuring OVO in this list. W’re happy to be included.
simple, nice & clean π
Really great examples. Love the minimalist look.
For this amazing collection i suggest niuenso.com
Hy guys,
I want to thank for the nice list of menu,and I just wanted to share a cool free minimal menu design – the files are PSD and you could use them to create really cool menus. https://www.creattor.com/web-elements/minimal-menu-3992
I used the files to design a couple of websites, but I think they’re useful for everyone.
I loved them all.
an AWESOME collection, thanks for sharing….
Simplicity rules! Most popular web resources have very simple, minimalistic designs. Great post! Enjoyed it π