How do you decide to design your Island & what is your thought process?

[TheDikTatorTot]

So. I have never been good at 'design' in any capacity, even though I'm an artist. Graphic design, layout design, interior/exterior design, none of it. I have been looking around Youtube to try and help myself figure out something to settle on, but I find that most of the islands are themed or really split up into these chaotic terrains that just don't make sense to me and actually make it harder for me to visualize a layout.

I'm just curious to know how everyone else decides on a design, and if you do, how did you come about it? Are you normally good at design? Did you just decide to say eff it and not care if things clash?

Item layout is probably even harder for me, because I look at all these items and get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of them. I want to be able to have spaces that are themed to a degree (Like shopping district, fishing, individual house yards, museum, etc) but I also don't want them to look tacky or like I meant to make a theme. More so a natural separation of items due to their use in that area.

I know items have 'themes' in their coding and design, but there are quite allot of items that are multi use or have use outside what people would most likely think. Other than the traditional themes and separating them that way, do you know of any resources that have created 'Fan Themes' essentially, pairing items that do work together even if they don't come from the same set?

Lol sorry for all the questions, I am just...HORRID at design. I finished terraforming my island last night, but now the daunting part of decorating it is stalling me.

 

[WaileaNoRei]

I couldn’t vote in the poll, but would like to try and answer your question. Just to caveat, I am by no means an expert and I have no formal artistic training. My island is not going to ever be social media famous.

when I am decorating my island, I usually try to create a space that is natural (meaning looks like real and usable and organic, not necessarily meaning nature-y) looking, and I use spacing a lot and also try to layer different shapes and sizes of items and plants to try and achieve this.

I took some inspiration from real life, from pictures of garden layouts, to famous sights.

i also try and balance the aesthetic with making the island usable for me and my villagers. I like having spots where villagers can interact with the items and spaces.

I try to make my island flow between areas and not feel too random, but I admit that I find it boring to stick to one theme overall, and I like trying different things and seeing different looks in different parts of my island.

I don’t stick with the item set themes or with any of the fan themes, but I do occasionally look at Pinterest or Instagram, just to get inspiration from the creativity and try and see different tricks and ideas of things to try on my island. You could always try copying things you like online, and then over time changing it to better fit your own tastes?

my advice for you would be that you just experiment with different decorating. I know the social media for the game makes it seem like you have to ‘finish’ your island before you can enjoy it, but you can just live with it as is, and see how inspiration strikes as you play the game. I think most of us are constantly changing our island designs, and it keeps the game fun!

sorry if none of this is helpful! Like I said, I am not an expert, but I love designing my island and I am happy with what I make. And i hope that you can enjoy yours too!

 

[TheDikTatorTot]

I couldn’t vote in the poll, but would like to try and answer your question. Just to caveat, I am by no means an expert and I have no formal artistic training. My island is not going to ever be social media famous.

when I am decorating my island, I usually try to create a space that is natural (meaning looks like real and usable and organic, not necessarily meaning nature-y) looking, and I use spacing a lot and also try to layer different shapes and sizes of items and plants to try and achieve this.

I took some inspiration from real life, from pictures of garden layouts, to famous sights.

i also try and balance the aesthetic with making the island usable for me and my villagers. I like having spots where villagers can interact with the items and spaces.

I try to make my island flow between areas and not feel too random, but I admit that I find it boring to stick to one theme overall, and I like trying different things and seeing different looks in different parts of my island.

I don’t stick with the item set themes or with any of the fan themes, but I do occasionally look at Pinterest or Instagram, just to get inspiration from the creativity and try and see different tricks and ideas of things to try on my island. You could always try copying things you like online, and then over time changing it to better fit your own tastes?

my advice for you would be that you just experiment with different decorating. I know the social media for the game makes it seem like you have to ‘finish’ your island before you can enjoy it, but you can just live with it as is, and see how inspiration strikes as you play the game. I think most of us are constantly changing our island designs, and it keeps the game fun!

sorry if none of this is helpful! Like I said, I am not an expert, but I love designing my island and I am happy with what I make. And i hope that you can enjoy yours too!

No your comment is very helpful! I hadn't thought about looking at real life photos to plan so that is a good idea. I do think it's going to take me a few months to even really work on the furniture layout and by that time, there will be new items to enjoy.

I want my island to feel 'natural', like things are meant to be there, but not cluttered, so it's a hard balance lol.