Island Inspiration: How did you find inspiration for your island and develop your own ideas for it?

[Dunquixote]

I’m trying to figure out what I want to do with my main island; I’m planning on using my second island to experiment and plan it.

Initially my island was heavily inspired by Dragon Age, so I planned on making it medieval themed. Now I want to move away from that and try something else. I have a few areas that I want to keep if possible. I was thinking of having some more urban areas or at least by resident services and the entrance. I’ve been considering more One Piece Inspired areas but seeing this Persona 5 dream address made me consider something like that too. At the same time, I want something different.

I’m curious how everyone found their inspiration for their island(s), what dream addresses & designs are your favorites or were your inspiration? Or are there any you just like that you would recommend visiting? How do you take what you’ve seen and turn it into something that is more you (rather than it being an exact copy)?

I never visited dream addresses much, but I feel like it might help me a little here. In the past, Hobowire’s island and dream address had inspired me to go in the direction that I took - making something that is outside the box. I still love what he did and am happy with some areas on my island but I’m not satisfied anymore and want to try to make it look better and finish this island so I can start doing a second island.

Atm, this is what I’ve been looking at so far ; I’m going to update this as I find more:

ItsBakeNeko on Reddit made a Persona 5 island that I really love; I just found it recently and am revisiting again. The address is: DA-2657-0936-3795

I really love the idea of a Persona 5 themed island; I made some HHP paradise Persona 5 themed designs but didn’t consider making my island like that.

 

[azurill]

It took me forever to be happy with my main island. I didn’t bother with much with terraforming because I didn’t know where to start. Someone here I forget now who posted a picture of island neighborhoods and I combined a few of those. I also got inspiration from a mystery island I had visited to help me. So my map ended up :

This is the neighborhood ideas that I used to help place my houses

As far as decorating it I wanted it as natural decorations and some seasonal.

My second island I can’t figure out how to decorate or terraform it. I like a few of my ideas but can’t seem to get it how I want. It’s one of reason I am going to be restarting it soon. I will be going back to my original idea of an island based on stars and the moon.

 

[Dunquixote]

It took me forever to be happy with my main island. I didn’t bother with much with terraforming because I didn’t know where to start. Someone here I forget now who posted a picture of island neighborhoods and I combined a few of those. I also got inspiration from a mystery island I had visited to help me. So my map ended up :
View attachment 589371
This is the neighborhood ideas that I used to help place my houses
View attachment 589372
As far as decorating it I wanted it as natural decorations and some seasonal.

My second island I can’t figure out how to decorate or terraform it. I like a few of my ideas but can’t seem to get it how I want. It’s one of reason I am going to be restarting it soon. I will be going back to my original idea of an island based on stars and the moon.

Thanks so much for sharing! That is very helpful and interesting

 

[azurill]

Thanks so much for sharing! That is very helpful and interesting

Your welcome , happy I could help

 

[ellienoise]

I was just about to make a thread for this! Visiting dream addresses, watching youtube videos and pinterest is definitely where i draw inspiration from. I also get them from instagram and twitter. I have never thought of myself as very creative or good at coming up with ideas on my own, so I copy things that I like and then give them my own spin. I mean I also don't think copying something exactly as it is is wrong as long as you don't go around advertising your island on social media and claiming it as your own creation without giving due credit.
The way I do that is I usually copy structure or layout but then change the color scheme or the theme of the area I'm working on.

Credit to this creator for the inspiration:

Spoiler: For example, here's Lamplight's canal area

My town has more of a coastal vibe so I changed the colors. It is still a work in progress but you can kind of get the idea:

Spoiler

I take a TON of screenshots while i'm at the dream adress to make sure I don't have to come back and forth over and over. I hope this helps!

Here are some islands that I love. Let me know if you like them and I can share more!
kokiri DA: 6496 0582 1664
https://www.instagram.com/crossingkokiri/

Spoiler

Pickleton: DA: 5911-9667-7042
I mean this creator is amazing. every single one of their isles is incredible.
https://www.instagram.com/acnh.pickleton/?hl=en

Spoiler

Torinoko: DA 9215-6897-3915
https://www.instagram.com/torinokoisle/
Super fun, easygoing vibes beach town. Make sure to check out the secret beach on the top right corner of the island, it is one of my favorite things ever and i'm totally stealing it!

Spoiler

 

[Dunquixote]

I was just about to make a thread for this! Visiting dream addresses, watching youtube videos and pinterest is definitely where i draw inspiration from. I also get them from instagram and twitter. I have never thought of myself as very creative or good at coming up with ideas on my own, so I copy things that I like and then give them my own spin. I mean I also don't think copying something exactly as it is is wrong as long as you don't go around advertising your island on social media and claiming it as your own creation without giving due credit.
The way I do that is I usually copy structure or layout but then change the color scheme or the theme of the area I'm working on.

Credit to this creator for the inspiration:

Spoiler: For example, here's Lamplight's canal area

View attachment 589569

My town has more of a coastal vibe so I changed the colors. It is still a work in progress but you can kind of get the idea:

Spoiler

View attachment 589570

I take a TON of screenshots while i'm at the dream adress to make sure I don't have to come back and forth over and over. I hope this helps!

Here are some islands that I love. Let me know if you like them and I can share more!
kokiri DA: 6496 0582 1664
https://www.instagram.com/crossingkokiri/

Spoiler

View attachment 589568

Pickleton: DA: 5911-9667-7042
I mean this creator is amazing. every single one of their isles is incredible.
https://www.instagram.com/acnh.pickleton/?hl=en

Spoiler

View attachment 589567

Torinoko: DA 9215-6897-3915
https://www.instagram.com/torinokoisle/
Super fun, easygoing vibes beach town. Make sure to check out the secret beach on the top right corner of the island, it is one of my favorite things ever and i'm totally stealing it!

Spoiler

View attachment 589566

That’s very helpful! Thanks so much for sharing . I’ll check those out!