Reg....just so you understand that once you paint something like a driveway - it is going to be a maintenance issue forever.
I would clean and degrease with a pressure cleaner. Make sure you treat any grease or oil stains - if you don't get them up - you are going to have adhesion problems.
I used to live in S.FL - we sold a lot of H&C concrete stain - it works very well on driveways.
Make sure you follow the directions - and don't go with too light a color - or you will have tire tracks all over the place.
I understand your desire to make a design. However, you are going to have to re-do sections of this periodically - unless you are very good - making the same design every few years can be tough.