PaulRB:
Far too soon to be designing PCBs in my opinion. Next step should be to build a prototype on breadboard. Perhaps just one tlc chip, one 595, one MOSFET and a few LEDs, plus caps & resistors and of course the Arduino, whatever that happens to be n the end.
Fair enough, what mosfet would you recomend for this purpose? a surface mount version and a "normal" through hole version if at all possible, i have no idea were to start on those.
also digikey or mouser? i cant wait on ebay chips this is slightly time sensitive(about a month to 1.5 months and ebay can take up to 30-never days to get here from china) (i have the LEDS)
Thank You