They may not, but I fail to see how that is "as a rule". One of the requirements of featured articles is that they contain media.[1] The review process and competition for main page nomination seems likely to ensure they are at least decent quality.
If you dig around, I also think you'd be surprised how many high quality images Wikipedia and Wikimedia have. There is a Featured Picture[2] process that encourages and curates great images.
Wikipedia basically invented crowd sourcing -- I'm sure editors could handle custom placement, even if it doesn't turn out as perfect as a hired designer would do it.
Overall I can't imagine this is a major problem with this design, even if it doesn't always look as flashy as the mockups.
If you dig around, I also think you'd be surprised how many high quality images Wikipedia and Wikimedia have. There is a Featured Picture[2] process that encourages and curates great images.
Wikipedia basically invented crowd sourcing -- I'm sure editors could handle custom placement, even if it doesn't turn out as perfect as a hired designer would do it.
Overall I can't imagine this is a major problem with this design, even if it doesn't always look as flashy as the mockups.
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_article_crit...
[2]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Featured_pictures