A nice set of roughs, Kiwako. Good work.
Both make me want to have a cup of coffee, even though it's waaaay too late in the evening for such things.
I like your second design better, even if it does lack a logo. The first is just too busy. My eye is bouncing all over the place in it and that gives me a headache. Your second design, in contrast is clean, relaxing and linear. It's easy to follow and the large pictures at the top does a lot of informing. It's interesting the memory triggers we have, but I can practically smell the cup of coffee on your home page and hear the clatter and chatter of a busy coffee house. The color and contrast help move the eye from section to section and the little shadows and highlights add texture throughout the design. The main navigation is easy to follow and, after a few moments, the secondary nav at the top pops into focus as well. Great use of imagery throughout. It both reinforces the topic and expands upon any text content that's already there.
Just a couple of suggestions to better your second design. One, tighten up the space in the middle of your pages. You've got a neat little statement or question and then a hundred miles of margin at the top and bottom of that statement or question. Tighten that space up or enlarge your top image to push your statement or question down a bit. Two, grab the logo from the first design and use it on the second. I don't see a logo on the second. Three, I would use a uniform typeface throughout the pages. The slightly distressed font you use for your secondary navigation at the top, middle statement, and copyright at the bottom clashes a bit with the font used in your image and main navigation. I'd use regular and bold versions of your image and main navigation type on everything else.
Great work! I looks forward to seeing it live on the internet.
