Icon Pop Nav Hover Effect
A text-only menu where hovering an item pops its icon up above the label with a springy bounce. Each icon is an inline SVG parked at scale zero, so the labels never shift.
Also known as: nav icon appears on hover, menu icon bounce, navbar icon reveal.
HTML
<nav class="hfx-nav-icon-pop"> <a href="#"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><path d="M3 11 12 4l9 7v8.5a1.5 1.5 0 0 1-1.5 1.5H15v-6H9v6H4.5A1.5 1.5 0 0 1 3 19.5z"/></svg>Home</a> <a href="#"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><rect x="3" y="7" width="18" height="13" rx="2"/><path d="M8 7V5.5A1.5 1.5 0 0 1 9.5 4h5A1.5 1.5 0 0 1 16 5.5V7M3 13h18"/></svg>Work</a> <a href="#"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><circle cx="12" cy="8" r="4"/><path d="M4 21a8 8 0 0 1 16 0"/></svg>About</a> <a href="#"><svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true"><rect x="3" y="5" width="18" height="14" rx="2"/><path d="m3 7 9 6 9-6"/></svg>Contact</a> </nav>
CSS
.hfx-nav-icon-pop {
--c: var(--hfx-color, #3b82f6);
display: flex;
align-items: center;
font: 600 var(--hfx-size, 16px)/1.2 system-ui, sans-serif;
}
.hfx-nav-icon-pop a {
position: relative;
padding: 1.9em 0.9em 0.6em;
color: inherit;
text-decoration: none;
transition: color 0.25s ease;
}
.hfx-nav-icon-pop svg {
position: absolute;
left: 50%;
top: 0.35em;
width: 1.3em;
height: 1.3em;
margin-left: -0.65em;
fill: none;
stroke: var(--c);
stroke-width: 2;
stroke-linecap: round;
stroke-linejoin: round;
opacity: 0;
transform: translateY(0.8em) scale(0.2);
transition: opacity 0.2s ease, transform 0.45s cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.8, 0.64, 1);
}
.hfx-nav-icon-pop a:is(:hover, :focus-visible) { color: var(--c); }
.hfx-nav-icon-pop a:is(:hover, :focus-visible) svg {
opacity: 1;
transform: translateY(0) scale(1);
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
.hfx-nav-icon-pop, .hfx-nav-icon-pop *, .hfx-nav-icon-pop::before, .hfx-nav-icon-pop::after, .hfx-nav-icon-pop *::before, .hfx-nav-icon-pop *::after {
animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
}
}Customizing this snippet
- Color: set
--hfx-coloron the element or a parent. Currently previewing#3b82f6. - Base size: set
--hfx-size. Every other dimension is inem, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing16px. - Speed: change the duration on the
transitionoranimationshorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm. - Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.