Monochrome web design uses a single hue in varying tones, tints, and shades to build the entire interface. This restrained approach creates visual cohesion and sophistication, allowing typography, layout, and imagery to define the experience within a unified tonal range.


Black and white is technically monochrome, but the term more broadly refers to any single-hue palette — a site using only shades of blue, green, or terracotta is also monochrome. The key is that all colour variation comes from adjusting lightness and saturation of one base hue.
A single-hue palette guarantees colour harmony and simplifies design decisions. It creates a strong, memorable brand association with that colour and forces designers to build hierarchy through other means — scale, weight, spacing, and tonal contrast.