1. A method of emphasizing and displaying images in a multi-media display apparatus, comprising: providing a display having a graphic user interface (GUI) including a user-interactive GUI pointing device; displaying a plurality of multi-media elements on the GUI in the form of a customizable photo-collage, wherein one or more of the displayed multi-media elements appears to overlap another one or more displayed multi-media elements so that only portions of the overlapped multi-media elements appear visible; receiving one or more user preferences related to the shapes and sizes associated with the photo-collage and adaptively locating the plurality of multi-media elements within the photo-collage according to the one or more user preferences and according to visual attributes of the multi-media elements; receiving a selection from a pointing device, said selection comprising a single user action, in association with one of the displayed images to select the associated displayed image; in response to said selection from a pointing device, modifying the display of the selected image to display the entire selected image in a different location separate from the photo-collage so that it is not overlapped by any other of the displayed images, the selected image comprising a non-rectangular shape when displayed in the different location; and in response to said selection from a pointing device, modifying the display of the entire selected image to display a larger view of the entire selected image without enlarging other images.