How to read a nine-grid

The latest post takes the top-left on a classic three-column profile, and the older ones step right, then down. If you design a picture that only works when it sits in the middle, it will be in the middle for a short time and then it will not.

Read three rows: the one you are about to publish and the two already there. That is the visitor's first screen on a phone.

Two busy tiles side by side fight. Two dark tiles can look like a hole. You do not need a perfect checkerboard. You need the next tile to sit politely next to the last ones.

Crops matter more than palettes. A face cut at the chin beside another face cut at the chin looks like a mistake even if the colors match.

A video still occupies a tile. Choose the cover as a tile, not as a frame that only makes sense while the video plays. The grid is full of frozen covers.

If every other tile is a cover with the same text style, the profile becomes a stack of thumbnails. Vary the cover or accept that look on purpose.

Drop the next images into a planner and look on a phone width. Desktop review hides how large the tiles feel in a hand. The free grid planner on this site is enough for that look.

When the row feels wrong, change the order or the cover before approval. After approval, reordering is a new version.