yes horizontally, its the short wall that I'm having trouble with figuring out. A contractor will be doing it, but I don't want to hear any excuses from them. Also, should I run a piece of bullnose past the top of the tub all the way down the wall, or just run the bullnose to the tile flange of the tub?

12 x 24 looks best when installed in a running bond (subway tile format is called a running bond), in my opinion. Installing them on the diagonal may look odd. You can google "running bond floor tile" and see lots of samples of flooring.

I'd want to do the same type of layout. But I'm kind of rigid like that in my thinking. It might look too close in layout, that the other looks like it was put in by mistake. So the limiting factor is the large format tile, recommended not to do a 50% offset. So I'd do the same with the wall, unless you really deviated from the pattern and did something totally different, like a stacked or herringbone. Again that is my take on it. Maybe others have other ideas and images of examples.

Thanks - that's the look i am looking for and also understand that i may need to compromise a bit as the geometry of the shower is not exactly setup for 12x24 so i will get some odd sized pieces. I will work with them this morning and see if we can work out the best layout that meets my objectives while also not end up with very small cuts of tile at the more visible ends. I think there may need to be a compromise somewhere but I think it can be done by working the corners within reason.