How do you use color, contrast, and typography to enhance your navigation menus and bars?

1 Choose colors that match your brand and purpose

The first step in wireframing navigation menus and bars is to choose the colors that suit your brand and purpose. Colors can convey different emotions, associations, and meanings, so you want to select the ones that match your message and tone. For example, if you are designing a website for a bank, you might want to use blue, green, or gray, as they suggest trust, stability, and professionalism. On the other hand, if you are designing an app for a gaming company, you might want to use red, yellow, or orange, as they suggest excitement, energy, and fun. You can also use color to create contrast and hierarchy among your navigation elements, such as highlighting the active or selected item, the call-to-action button, or the submenus.

2 Use contrast to increase visibility and readability

Contrast is the difference in brightness or color between two elements, and it is crucial for increasing visibility and readability of your navigation menus and bars. You want to make sure that your navigation elements stand out from the background and from each other, so that users can easily see and read them. A common way to create contrast is to use dark text on a light background, or vice versa. However, you can also use other methods, such as changing the size, shape, or style of your navigation elements, or adding borders, shadows, or icons. For example, you can use a larger font size for your main menu items, a different shape for your call-to-action button, or an icon for your hamburger menu.

3 Use typography to communicate clarity and consistency

Typography is the art and technique of arranging text, and it is another important factor for enhancing your navigation menus and bars. You want to use typography to communicate clarity and consistency, so that users can easily understand and follow your navigation structure. To achieve this, you need to pay attention to several aspects of typography, such as font type, font size, font weight, font style, line height, letter spacing, and alignment. For example, you can use a sans-serif font type for your navigation elements, as they are more modern and legible. You can also use a consistent font size for your main menu items, a bold font weight for your call-to-action button, a italic font style for your submenus, a comfortable line height for your text, a moderate letter spacing for your words, and a left or center alignment for your text.