Oh God. That pun!
I too, like your fun design better. It feels more creative and artsy than your very professional first design. I think it's the extra color of the "taste the rainbow" splash in the back. I like the size of your top header. It functions to frame the content below and draw the eye to your navigation, which is easy to see and use. The bright background draws the eye and the fun font is very legible while also being very non-standard. Good work with the transparency on your bodycopy container. It adds visual interest and allows your fun background image to show through. It looks like this design should collapse nicely into mobile without too much fuss, too.
To me what it really needs are contrast and images, two things your first design does well. I'd make the top nav dark, like you did on your first one and maybe use the TMCC lime as a rollover or accent color. I'd also recommend putting in a bunch of photos. Maybe stock stuff of creative students at work, software screenshots, a fe TMCC lab photos, a campus photo or two, some student art hanging around, that kind of thing. Also, you may want to try different background splashes on each page. That'd add more fun and encourage people to explore.
Nicely done, Stephanie!
KATHY RUECKL
