MUDs 4 Texas style guide

Texas civic education brand: warm authority without realtor flash, dark SaaS, or generic AI civic cards. Mode: Read. Stack: static HTML + Tailwind CDN + Lucide + Google Fonts.

Design dials (committed)

Locked for Phase 1 education Read mode. Do not drift without Kenny sign-off.

DESIGN_VARIANCE

Expressive civic editorial. Asymmetric layouts, typographic heroes, table craft. Not experimental theatre.

MOTION_INTENSITY

Hover and focus only. No scroll theatre, no GSAP. Respects prefers-reduced-motion.

VISUAL_DENSITY

Scannable education: steps, tables, FAQ folds. Breathing room between sections. Not dashboard-dense.

Palette

Cool capitol stone ground (not AI cream wall). Deep civic navy for authority. Adobe clay for rare emphasis. Mesquite sage for secondary calm. Surfaces are cool off-whites, never pure #FFFFFF as the only canvas.

ground

#E6E9E4 · page canvas

paper

#F7F8F6 · bands

surface

#FCFDFB · cards / header

ink

#0B1726 · text / footer

civic

#1B4F72 · primary CTA

clay

#C45C26 · rare accent

mesquite

#2F4F44 · secondary

muted

#4A5560 · body secondary

Anti-clone: Not Air Solutions amber (#D97706) or IBM Plex. Not Hufflin’s Fraunces / forest / teal. Not purple-blue gradients.

Typography

Newsreader for display and section heads. Source Sans 3 for UI and body. Strong scale steps. No kickers or eyebrows above headings (craft-floor ban).

Display · Newsreader · clamp(2.5rem, 5vw, 3.75rem)

Texas Municipal Utility Districts

H1 · Newsreader · clamp(2.5rem, 5vw, 3.75rem)

What is a Municipal Utility District (MUD)?

H2 · Newsreader · clamp(1.625rem, 2.8vw, 2.125rem)

Three money streams people mix up

H3 · Source Sans 3 semibold · 1.125rem

Notice to Purchaser (what it is)

Body · Source Sans 3 · 1.125rem · leading 1.65 · measure 65–75ch

A Municipal Utility District (MUD) is a political subdivision of the State of Texas created to provide certain public services, most often water, wastewater, and drainage, within defined boundaries.

Forbidden patterns (AI tells)

Eyebrow / kicker labels above H1 or H2
Identical icon + title + paragraph cards as page structure
Lucide-in-tint-box above title as default section pattern
Equal-height 3-column feature grids
Nested cards inside cards
Purple-to-blue gradients as primary palette
Pure #FFFFFF as the only page surface
Zero-offset glow shadows
Thick decorative left borders on callouts
Em dashes in chrome copy; emoji as icons

Buttons and links

Primary education CTA Secondary Ghost Official tool (clay) Text link

Primary = civic navy. Clay reserved for official external tools (TCEQ, tax). Never lead-gen CTAs. Use .cta-row so buttons stack full-width under 480px (min-height 44px).

Preferred patterns

Editorial guide row

What is a Municipal Utility District?

Plain-language definition and how it shows up in real estate.

How MUD taxes differ from your water bill

Ad valorem tax vs utility charges vs HOA/PID.

Callouts

Education only

Not legal, tax, or financial advice. Confirm with your district and licensed professionals.

They can overlap

A property can have a MUD, a PID, and an HOA at the same time.

Sample typographic hero

Texas Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs), explained

A Municipal Utility District (MUD) is a special-purpose local government in Texas that often provides water, sewer, drainage, and related services in growing communities.

What is a MUD? Find your MUD