do you make your layout primarily based on convenience or aesthetic?

[amylsp]

lean more towards convenience. all the major buildings are near the resident services while all the villager houses are in the back with a neighborhood setup. no hate but i'm kinda amazed at people who are able to do cottagecore styles and having everything being cluttered like that, seems like it would get annoying to walk around in after a while.

I agree about the cottagecore, etc. islands that are so cluttered, it's very difficult to navigate. I'm guessing tho, if you played the island frequently you would learn to how to avoid all the dead ends. I do love to visit these islands because they are so beautiful and creative. For me, I love the challenge of seeing just how 'cluttered' you can make an area, but still have it be easily navigable. That's what I strive for on my island. Sometimes I really miss having some 'open space' tho. There are some really beautiful islands that use 'open space' really well.

 

[Stalfos]

I think most people would like to do both, as would I. But that's not easy and there's only so much space on the island. I decided to do a compromise; lower half of the island is very organized with buildings and roads that go straight through the island from west to east and north to south, while the upper half is gonna be a wild forest without any roads at all.

 

[-Lumi-]

I value convenience over aesthetic. I have been to some absolutely gorgeous islands but the 5-10 minutes I've spent there trying to navigate to stores or an appropriate place to drop items was a little bothersome. I want to be able to run around my island if bees or a tarantula is chasing me without having to meander around furniture or hop over tiny bits of land. I also want to be able to fish, catch bugs, and find my villagers with relative ease that I just don't think I'd be able to achieve with one of those jam-packed cottage core islands.

I've tried to place things in spots that I think are aesthetically pleasing as I do want to try and make my island look nice so in some respect I'll value aesthetic over convenience but only mildly. It may be more convenient for my shops and museum to all be on the ground level and closer to my airport but I've placed them farther back. Admittedly this decision was mainly brought on because I thought we'd get more shops and I was hoping to emulate the "shopping district" from New Leaf but we never got more shops. I was hoping to have all the shops next to each other and then the museum one level above as for me, that would be convenient in the sense they're all close together.

I have different "sections" of my island as well but nothing is over crowded to the point I can't move around it with ease. I have a little diner, a small walk-way cafe, a campsite/playground area, a picnic area, some fun items on my beach, etc. I prefer to make my island look more full and lively with things I can walk over, though. Leaf piles, cherry blossom piles, (still gutted we didn't get snow piles ), and just flat pattern pieces on the ground to add some colour. I have a small section on a cliff that's the most crowded with flowers, star fragments, mushroom stools, etc but I've placed a path down the middle and there's nothing important there, it's just for pictures really.

My house is probably the worst offender of aesthetic over convenience, lol. I placed it waaay far back in the upper right corner of my yard. I wanted my house to be above all my villagers I wanted to be a little separate so I could have a yard and whatnot but placing my house so far back can be tricky when I need to rush back and grab a few items or put some things away.

 

[amylsp]

I prefer to make my island look more full and lively with things I can walk over, though. Leaf piles, cherry blossom piles, (still gutted we didn't get snow piles ), and just flat pattern pieces on the ground to add some colour. I have a small section on a cliff that's the most crowded with flowers, star fragments, mushroom stools, etc but I've placed a path down the middle and there's nothing important there, it's just for pictures really.

Someone should make a list of all the items you can walk over. I agree they are great to add to tight areas where you want to add color and interest, but keep the area navigable. My favorites are the leaf piles, the lost items and the pumpkins!