Recent Design Finds: Compact Navigation

A little collection of website menus that are compact and open into nifty boxes or shapes.

Designing a website can be quite the challenge, and when it comes to crafting the navigation, it’s a whole different ball game. With options like full-screen overlays, push menus, and mega menus, the possibilities seem endless.

Lately, I’ve stumbled upon some compact menu pattern that takes a more subtle approach—small, unobtrusive designs that blend seamlessly while still offering users a clear path to navigate. They can come in different shapes which adds an intriguing dimension and the way they open can be quite interesting. Throw in a blurry background, and voilà—an irresistibly sleek element in a design.

I’d love to share a few of my top picks with you in the hopes that they might inspire and delight.

Faubourg

PandaPay

Enpower Trading

Ask Phill

Vendredi Society

VNTNR

Sarah Bassett

Uncommon

Church

QuadroDesign

Kreyda

Shardeum

Wow Tapes

Your Majesty

Fratelli Rossi

And? Which one is your favorite? I think mine is VNTNR 🙂

I hope you enjoyed this collection and draw some inspiration from it!

Thanks for checking by!

Manoela Ilic

Manoela is the main tinkerer at Codrops. With a background in coding and passion for all things design, she creates web experiments and keeps frontend professionals informed about the latest trends.

Stay in the loop: Get your dose of frontend twice a week

Fresh news, inspo, code demos, and UI animations—zero fluff, all quality. Make your Mondays and Thursdays creative!