Nano Banana: what it costs, and what you actually get

Rules: 1280x720 YouTube thumbnail. The hero fills 55-75% of the frame, aggressively cropped. Typography is HUGE (owns 25-40% of the frame), ultra-bold, rendered as a designed physical object (plate, smear, strip, slab or sticker) made of the scene's material world, with one PAYOFF word 2-4x larger than the rest. HARD RULE: text NEVER covers the hero's face or eyes - beside, above or across the body only. Spelling EXACTLY as quoted - every visible word must be a correctly spelled real word. Everything must read at 120px on a phone. No play buttons, no UI, no watermarks, no extra small text. Channel "INVESTORY" (signature look, obey strictly: premium realistic financial editorial photograph, tactile real-world materials, decisive human-scale consequence, restrained navy-black and gold grade, palette #0B1220 / #D8A11A, accent #D8A11A). Scene: LAYOUT MODE: split composition; hero opposite the chosen type zone. HERO PROP (dominant, 30-50% of frame, cropped close): a man in his late fifties at a kitchen table, one hand pressed flat on a printed pension statement while the other tears the corner of the page away, his face lit hard from a low window, jaw set in the instant he understands the number. BACKGROUND (separate supporting layer behind the hero - darker, simpler, depth): an out-of-focus suburban kitchen sinking into navy shadow, a cold grey morning beyond the blinds. STORY DETAILS (symbolic, on/around the hero): the torn corner of the statement falling as a thin gold-lit sliver; a cooling mug of tea with an untouched skin on it. Headline: "£40,000" (the payoff word, HUGE) (accent color) then "GONE QUIETLY" - placed clear of all faces. Render the headline as cinematic title-card lettering with metallic bevel and rim light, embedded in the scene atmosphere, blockbuster one-sheet gravity. Small badge pill "INVESTORY" in a corner away from the text. CHANNEL IDENTITY CONTRACT (non-negotiable; reject a scene that misses any visible fact):
MUST SHOW:
- A believable adult human decision or tactile financial artifact visibly enacts the title's exact wealth mechanism.
- The scene still communicates a concrete financial consequence when the headline is covered.
- The dominant material reads as photographed paper, property, cash-flow object, or human-scale evidence rather than a digital asset.
MUST NOT SHOW:
- Generic floating coins, neon market charts, holographic dashboards, anonymous gold bars, luxury filler, video-game art, or a glossy 3D product render. USER-APPROVED GOLDEN CRAFT BAR: One unmistakable, story-specific hero dominates at phone size and is cropped decisively at the frame edge; a centered hero is optional only when the surrounding type and action read more strongly that way. Use only two or three meaningful visual elements with real foreground, hero, and background depth. Avoid a dead 50/50 picture-and-copy split: one hero contour or atmospheric layer should overlap the future type zone. Headline typography is oversized and treated as a physical visual object, never a generic clean font floating in empty space. Keep one forceful contrast system and one restrained accent; reject muddy, generic, or product-render imagery. Channel identity is compact and secondary in a corner; it must never compete with the hook. OWNER-SELECTED A/B PREFERENCES: Prefer a two-word concrete tension or payoff hook over a longer sentence; make the decisive noun visibly dominant. Stage the hero at the peak of action with readable emotion in face, eyes, or hands—not a calm pose after the event. Show cause and consequence together: one close hero action plus one smaller proof detail that completes the story. Bring one consequential hand, object, rupture, or release into the near foreground so the viewer feels the action before decoding the subject. Use a strong diagonal or edge crop to pull the eye from hook to hero to consequence in under one second. Allow a centered hero only for a genuinely stronger peak-action image; arrange supporting type around its silhouette and never turn it into a default symmetrical poster. Do not let a detached signboard or flat black text panel become the composition. Typography must share the scene's material, light, motion, or negative space while leaving the hero dominant. Keep headline contrast immediate and physical while preserving one clean hierarchy; do not let background lore compete.

Rules: 1280x720 YouTube thumbnail. The hero fills 55-75% of the frame, aggressively cropped. Typography is HUGE (owns 25-40% of the frame), ultra-bold, rendered as a designed physical object (plate, smear, strip, slab or sticker) made of the scene's material world, with one PAYOFF word 2-4x larger than the rest. HARD RULE: text NEVER covers the hero's face or eyes - beside, above or across the body only. Spelling EXACTLY as quoted - every visible word must be a correctly spelled real word. Everything must read at 120px on a phone. No play buttons, no UI, no watermarks, no extra small text. Channel "INKED HISTORIES" (signature look, obey strictly: original high-craft historical ink-and-charcoal editorial illustration on aged paper, tactile cross-hatching, dramatic chiaroscuro and restrained ember-gold proof accents, palette #141110 / #C2761F, accent #C2761F). Scene: LAYOUT MODE: split composition; hero opposite the chosen type zone. HERO PROP (dominant, 30-50% of frame, cropped close): a Roman treasury guard wrenching open an iron-banded strongbox at the peak of the discovery, the lid flung back, his lantern arm thrown wide, mouth open in the half-second before he shouts, the box interior utterly empty. BACKGROUND (separate supporting layer behind the hero - darker, simpler, depth): a vaulted stone undercroft receding into deep cross-hatched blackness, one collapsed shelf, torchlight raking the columns. STORY DETAILS (symbolic, on/around the hero): a single coin still spinning on the flagstones catching an ember-gold highlight; a snapped chain swinging from the strongbox hasp. Headline: "EMPTY" (the payoff word, HUGE) (accent color) then "BY DAWN" - placed clear of all faces. Render the headline as cinematic title-card lettering with metallic bevel and rim light, embedded in the scene atmosphere, blockbuster one-sheet gravity. Small badge pill "INKED HISTORIES" in a corner away from the text. CHANNEL IDENTITY CONTRACT (non-negotiable; reject a scene that misses any visible fact):
MUST SHOW:
- One human historical action, artifact recovery, danger, discovery, or consequence is visibly staged at the peak moment.
- Tactile cross-hatching, aged paper, charcoal depth, and a restrained ember-gold or rust proof detail anchor the illustration.
MUST NOT SHOW:
- AAA adventure-game key art, glossy 3D character models, RPG inventory props, comic-panel grids, speech bubbles, UI overlays, or decorative artifact-only scenes. USER-APPROVED GOLDEN CRAFT BAR: One unmistakable, story-specific hero dominates at phone size and is cropped decisively at the frame edge; a centered hero is optional only when the surrounding type and action read more strongly that way. Use only two or three meaningful visual elements with real foreground, hero, and background depth. Avoid a dead 50/50 picture-and-copy split: one hero contour or atmospheric layer should overlap the future type zone. Headline typography is oversized and treated as a physical visual object, never a generic clean font floating in empty space. Keep one forceful contrast system and one restrained accent; reject muddy, generic, or product-render imagery. Channel identity is compact and secondary in a corner; it must never compete with the hook. OWNER-SELECTED A/B PREFERENCES: Prefer a two-word concrete tension or payoff hook over a longer sentence; make the decisive noun visibly dominant. Stage the hero at the peak of action with readable emotion in face, eyes, or hands—not a calm pose after the event. Show cause and consequence together: one close hero action plus one smaller proof detail that completes the story. Bring one consequential hand, object, rupture, or release into the near foreground so the viewer feels the action before decoding the subject. Use a strong diagonal or edge crop to pull the eye from hook to hero to consequence in under one second. Allow a centered hero only for a genuinely stronger peak-action image; arrange supporting type around its silhouette and never turn it into a default symmetrical poster. Do not let a detached signboard or flat black text panel become the composition. Typography must share the scene's material, light, motion, or negative space while leaving the hero dominant. Keep headline contrast immediate and physical while preserving one clean hierarchy; do not let background lore compete.

Rules: 1280x720 YouTube thumbnail. The hero fills 55-75% of the frame, aggressively cropped. Typography is HUGE (owns 25-40% of the frame), ultra-bold, rendered as a designed physical object (plate, smear, strip, slab or sticker) made of the scene's material world, with one PAYOFF word 2-4x larger than the rest. HARD RULE: text NEVER covers the hero's face or eyes - beside, above or across the body only. Spelling EXACTLY as quoted - every visible word must be a correctly spelled real word. Everything must read at 120px on a phone. No play buttons, no UI, no watermarks, no extra small text. Channel "GRATITUDE SPRINGS" (signature look, obey strictly: hyperreal cinematic meditation photography, natural water and atmospheric light, tactile human or environmental serenity, restrained blue and moonlit contrast, palette #0A1A26 / #8FD3E8, accent #8FD3E8). Scene: LAYOUT MODE: centered hero at peak action; reserve asymmetric clean pockets around its silhouette for native typography. HERO PROP (dominant, 30-50% of frame, cropped close): a serene adult woman floating on her back in still dark water, face calm and turned to the sky, arms open and released, hair fanned out, the surface tension breaking into slow rings around her shoulders. BACKGROUND (separate supporting layer behind the hero - darker, simpler, depth): a moonlit spring under low mist, dark treeline dissolving into blue night, one cold band of light across the water. STORY DETAILS (symbolic, on/around the hero): concentric ripples spreading outward from her released hands; a faint breath of steam rising off the warm water into the cold air. Headline: "JUST FLOAT" (the payoff word, HUGE) (accent color) then "10 MINUTES" - placed clear of all faces. Render the headline as cinematic title-card lettering with metallic bevel and rim light, embedded in the scene atmosphere, blockbuster one-sheet gravity. Small badge pill "GRATITUDE SPRINGS" in a corner away from the text. CHANNEL IDENTITY CONTRACT (non-negotiable; reject a scene that misses any visible fact):
MUST SHOW:
- A serene human or environmental sanctuary visibly expresses the episode's exact emotional promise.
- Water, mist, light, foliage, sky, or quiet human presence is used as a tactile calm cue where it fits the topic.
MUST NOT SHOW:
- A repeated rock-pile or paired-stones hero for an unrelated topic, synthetic wellness UI, plastic 3D props, or generic spa stock. USER-APPROVED GOLDEN CRAFT BAR: One unmistakable, story-specific hero dominates at phone size and is cropped decisively at the frame edge; a centered hero is optional only when the surrounding type and action read more strongly that way. Use only two or three meaningful visual elements with real foreground, hero, and background depth. Avoid a dead 50/50 picture-and-copy split: one hero contour or atmospheric layer should overlap the future type zone. Headline typography is oversized and treated as a physical visual object, never a generic clean font floating in empty space. Keep one forceful contrast system and one restrained accent; reject muddy, generic, or product-render imagery. Channel identity is compact and secondary in a corner; it must never compete with the hook. OWNER-SELECTED A/B PREFERENCES: Prefer a two-word concrete tension or payoff hook over a longer sentence; make the decisive noun visibly dominant. Stage the hero at the peak of action with readable emotion in face, eyes, or hands—not a calm pose after the event. Show cause and consequence together: one close hero action plus one smaller proof detail that completes the story. Bring one consequential hand, object, rupture, or release into the near foreground so the viewer feels the action before decoding the subject. Use a strong diagonal or edge crop to pull the eye from hook to hero to consequence in under one second. Allow a centered hero only for a genuinely stronger peak-action image; arrange supporting type around its silhouette and never turn it into a default symmetrical poster. Do not let a detached signboard or flat black text panel become the composition. Typography must share the scene's material, light, motion, or negative space while leaving the hero dominant. Keep headline contrast immediate and physical while preserving one clean hierarchy; do not let background lore compete.