I like this idea a lot - kind of mambo style, where you can place different news systems on the front page too. If you see the layout of certain programs, or newspapers, that can be very much influenced by quark, or the latest quark killer from adobe, you will see the ability to place box like items in position on the front page, much like our cms - e107! (the crowds say bo - you say selecta), but a way bit more extendable / adaptable / you know what I mean.
For instance, split page in 3 columns, make middle column 70% of page, split middle column in two rows at midpoint of page, split bottom into two columns, thus you get 5 areas of possible content.
I know its possible to do this outright anyway, but I just dont see people doing it. Its quite hard to code up without the right tools, and its also mixed together with the aesthetics, which I dont believe it should be.
Also - is it possible to have just a one news item on the front page, with a link to the inner part of the news area.
Aesthetics = Design = Layout = colours + css + (tables?) + / - paragraphs + / - divs + jscript + html + etc - dont remember the facets of this sum, but I will try to get back to you on this.