Develop an AI Ethical Futures Lab thumbnail style and regenerate covers

[WalksWithASwagger]

Context

The July 2026 emergency refresh fixed the immediate Luma problem: future AI Ethical Futures Lab covers now show the correct Tuesday dates, use deterministic title/date overlays, and no longer include the BC + AI logo.

The thumbnails still are not the right art direction. We need to develop a proper AI Ethical Futures Lab visual style in Rafiki, then regenerate the covers from that style.

Current artifact package:

/Users/kk/Code/rafiki/output/aefl-luma-thumbnails-refresh-2026-07/

Reference report:

/Users/kk/Code/rafiki/output/aefl-luma-thumbnails-refresh-2026-07/REPORT.md

Current live events:

• https://luma.com/aug-ethics
• https://luma.com/sept-ethics
• https://luma.com/octo-ethics
• https://luma.com/nov-ethics
• https://luma.com/decem-ethics

Acceptance Criteria

• Audit the recovered AEFL/Futureproof reference assets and identify the strongest visual DNA.
• Determine whether a good AEFL style already exists; recover and formalize it if it does.
• Define a reusable Rafiki AEFL style direction as a documented prompt/style pack or first-class preset, following existing Rafiki conventions.
• Produce a new batch of textless candidate backgrounds that feel distinctive, future-facing, rooted in BC, and more badass than corporate.
• Keep deterministic overlays for the title, session number, and date; do not rely on generated text.
• Preserve the title treatment AI Ethical Futures Lab.
• Include the correct event number and Tuesday date.
• Do not include the BC + AI logo, organization tagline, or boilerplate.
• Ensure no stale dates appear anywhere in the artwork.
• Create a review contact sheet comparing the current covers with the new candidate direction.
• Check legibility at Luma card size and mobile preview size.
• Do not update live Luma covers until a human approves the new direction.

Notes

• The emergency refresh was functional, not final art direction.
• The next pass belongs in Rafiki, not directly in Luma.
• Scope is upcoming AEFL invites Phase B: Convert WAIFF and HOPECODE prompt files to Rafiki batch format #6-Bug: run.json reports ok:true when image file was never written to disk #10.
• Human approval is required before any live cover upload.