Effective drop-down navigation menu designs are one of the most important features of a web sites core design and usability. Simply the web site’s Navigation Menus are the systems that create the most efficient traffic flow across a site or mobile application.
The menu GUI is what allows the user interface to be easy to navigation through ( or difficult. ) Bad menu design on the other hand can cause traffic to decay from your web site like a fast leaking bucket and we don’t want that!
For web sites that have multiple content levels, Drop-Down Navigation Menu Designs are the best option. When you hover over a Drop-Down menu a submenu of navigation slides out or appears. Drop-Down Menus are usually built using CSS and JQuery. Drop-Down Menus are usually built using CSS and JQuery.
Content Management Systems Such as WordPress and Joomla
There is a very high chance that your web site will be using a CMS (content management system ) such as WordPress. The majority of current and certainly most premium themes for WordPress will include inbuilt support for drop-down navigation menus. More advanced feature rich WordPress themes may even have special functionality built into the core theme that will help you to produce dazzling drop down menus to stun and amaze your users.
Remember that menu systems are not just about good looks, fancy mouseovers and CSS style effects. Certainly crisp and sharp visuals are important when designing menus but just as important is the GUI design and the choice of descriptions and menu items. When designing a menu ask the question ‘how logical and intuitive is the menu navigation here?’ Can my users get from page A to page B with the minimum of fuss? These are the basic questions to ask when building navigational menus.
Road Test the Drop Down Menu GUI
Consider asking third parties to properly test your drop down menu. What looks obvious to you the designer may in fact be confusing to a person unfamiliar with your site or its content. This way you get valuable feedback on your menu, every aspect of its functionality from the CSS styling all the way to the manner in which users navigate from item to item can benefit from menu testing and detailed feedback.
Using UberMenu a Drop Down Menu Plugin for WordPress
Now some themes only come with limited support for drop down menus. One WordPress plugin that we recommend to produce amazing drop down menus is a plugin called UberMenu for WordPress. With this plugin it is possible to create bespoke, fast loading, exciting and original web site menus that are completely unique.
This is an ideal plugin for those themes with limited menu features. It is also great if you are using a really popular premium theme like the ‘Newspaper’ theme and simply want to make it more unique and bespoke. The choice is yours. If you are presently looking for the low down on the best menu plugins for WordPress then look at our in depth feature on WordPress menu plugins.
Before we start let’s take a look at some important tips when creating an Impressive Drop-Down Navigation Menu Design:
- Menu Design Should be Simple & User Friendly to Use.
- Fonts and menu typography should be easily readable.
- Color Scheme of the Menu should fit nicely with the Website.
- Indicate where the viewer is by highlighting the page they’re on.
32+ Impressive Drop-Down Navigation Menu Designs
When designing a web site menu and GUI, some designers tend to lose creativity when it comes to their drop-down menus. Here’s a collection of impressive Drop-Down Menus which have been designed with creativity and style. These Drop-Down Menus totally stand out from the crowd, and help elevate the web sites to a new level of design and creative flair.
Design Slurp
Tuts Plus
Adidas
Carreras Con Futuro
Converse
Kathmandu
Starbucks Coffee (Australia)
Lion Burger
Australian Open
Showtime
Jay Jays
MTV Music Television
Pure Grips
Estee Lauder
Freitag
Sunglass Hut
Dick Smith
Imaginamos
Puma
Republic
Skullcandy
Piiq
Red Brick Health
Behance
Noizikidz
Single Hop
Helmy Bern
Coca-Cola
Crazy Domains
Sears
Sony Entertainment
Toyota Cars
Select Fashion
An impressive selection of menu designs to behold. Certainly enough to draw creative inspiration from. Of course designing menu navigation systems is not just about making them look slick and visually impressive. Applications such as Google Analytics can help test new menu systems and gauge the way audiences flow around the key pages and sections of a web site.
An effective web site menu will funnel visitors around the site intuitively while at the same time loading fast and be easy on the eye. This smooth balance between visuals, speed and engagement is what makes for a perfect web site menu design.