Modifying the Menu

[...] would it be possible to raise the character's portrait up and then put the name underneath, sort of the opposite effect of the FF4 image that you posted?

It's possible to move the portrait and the name anywhere on the screen. You just need to find where that position is set. It took me about 5-6 hours total looking at code in bank C3
to find the X and Y positions of the portraits in the main menu.