I am a little late on this thread. #1, or some sort of template for #2. The default should be like the formal white or custom corners. Plain vanilla has some merit and is not distracting,
The wood theme is ...... but it is also the only one that has that kind of background. See Standard themes. Thus suitable for tweaking with granite or kola fur - backgrounds and gradients?
I myself liked the standardlogo approach, which requires absolutely no grubbing around with code or in the /theme files
9 months later, I think there is a lot of good stuff on how to. My current thought about Theme documentation is organization. The "how to tweak" or "design a theme" is the most fun part, but not the only thing needing improvement
Best Chris