Fans argue about member collages "respecting age order" because ordering isn't decoration — it's data. Position encodes meaning. Play with the gallery wall below and see how the same nine photos tell different stories.
Drag to rotate the wall. Switch layouts and watch every frame glide to its new position.
Western viewers scan in a Z-pattern: top-left first, bottom-right last. Whatever sits top-left reads as "first" — which is exactly why age-order debates exist. Position is a claim.
Uneven gaps read as mistakes. Pick a single spacing unit (say 12px) and use it — or exact multiples — everywhere. Consistency is 80% of "clean."
Making one photo 2× larger declares a hierarchy. Great for a birthday edit; risky for a group where equal billing matters. If everyone is equal, keep cells equal.
9 photos fit a 3×3 perfectly. 7 don't — so anchor with a center cell or a hero, never leave a dangling corner. If your count is awkward, change the grid, not the crops.