We went a little mountain industrial with our bathroom makeover because we already had that theme in the house.  A pair of vessel sinks that look like a blacksmith made them are pretty complimentary to that.  They install easily with a heavy bead of silicone around the counter hole.  The sound of water hitting the sink is muffled a bit by the silicone.  You do need to consider faucet height and directional alignment, because if a waterfall stream hits a pop up drain, you may be wearing it.