Front yard - driveway/pathway options - advice?

Ok please everyone don't laugh at my lame photobucket attempts. I would have just drawn all this on by hand but I don't have a scanner, so had to make do with my terrible photobucket skills.

We are trying to work out what to do with the front yard. A bit of background info:

We want to fence the whole front off, and will have a remote control gate system opening the driveway gates. Then a little pedestrian gate next to that with a high latch. (We don't want the pedestrian gate to go in line with our front door as we don't want to split the front yard in two.)

The fence will be stained horizontal timber slats in between vertical wooden posts in Woodland Grey. On each side of the driveway will be a brick pillar - one housing the letterbox.

So we have two options for the pathway - right next to the driveway and leading up to the verandah, or cutting through to lead up to the front door (the bit in between the path and driveway would then become garden).

Here are my lame pictures to help explain.
The driveway is outlined in the picture.
Green bits - brick pillars
Purple dots - Woodland Grey posts - timber slats running horizontally in between
Mustard lines - rough pathway
red - front door

path to verandah
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path to front door
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So I have two questions:
1. Which would look best?
2. What should they be made of? If we do the pathway to the front door, it would probably be done in the same material as the driveway (which is still undecided), but if we do the path NEXT to the driveway, I would want something to differentiate it to the driveway as a path, so need ideas here.

Here is my facade which may help.
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I hope this has not been too hard to read and that you all can help me.

thanks in advance!