Moen or Delta have been around for a long time, keep the design clean for a more timeless look.

Brushed nickel is definitely still a good choice. It is a warmer finish than chrome, a little more neutral. There is a great faucet company called Santec. Designer quality but without the heavy price tag. Here is a link to their kitchen faucet section:
http://www.santecfaucet.com/kitchenseries.html

Moen and delta, if purchased at a big box store, contain plastic cartridges. You want ceramic...

I have a Moen shower head that works great. There isn't too much of a difference...keep in mind they each have faucets with plastic and ceramic cartridges. The plastic ones corrode quickly, depending on your water quality. Big recommendation to buy a faucet with ceramic cartridges. e.g. this is a Pfister cartridge:

Here are a few pull-out/pull-down styles: