Let's Talk Island Themes

[VelveteenCat]

I'm trying to go for a gothic theme, but it's difficult. Overall, I want to achieve a more elegant look, kind of like an English garden, with only a small amount of spooky elements which I don't want to be too edgy and/or halloweeny. So far it's hard to do with the items available, I really hope that there will be more once October comes around. Right now, my main focus are black flowers and even though I've been breeding them since the beginning of April, I feel like I don't have nearly enough. I need tons of black roses but they seem to be growing rather slow, which is frustrating, and I have a grant amount of five(!) black cosmos. Also DIYs seem to be hard to come by, instead of the ones I need, my villagers love to give me duplicates.
I was very happy about the items we got from the wedding event, some of them were great to incorporate and gave me new ideas, but right now I'm kind of stuck again.
When it comes to ressources, I feel like I'm always running out of stone since most of the DIYs I find fitting require a lot.

 

[Dunquixote]

My island’s theme is medieval; I’m basing some of my areas some more loosely than others off of locations in the Dragon Age games. I still have a lot of work to do before I’m done. Some areas that are kinda close to being done I have to put on hold until more items are released. It has been pretty difficult trying to come up with ideas and working with what furniture I have atm in the game.

 

[patchworkbunny]

I've been focusing on theming my villagers' gardens more than an overall theme but I do want to keep a countryside type feel to it. I like the idea of having a few spooky touches that make you wonder if something is going on behind closed doors.

 

[BetsySundrop]

My island is perfect for "this designer has no plan and no skill, but is giving it one heck if a go!"....

Seriously, it's a complete wreck. Originally, I planned to have different looks for different areas, of course with smooth transitions going from one area to the next. But no. That did not happen. I have a giant mess, and am still really, truly struggling with the whole thing. I may actually break out some graph paper or something and start completely over.

My top struggles:
-when building a cliff area, too much of the area behind it is hidden/ not usable for what I planned
-my rock garden Still only has 3 rocks. Giving up on that, because after a couple weeks of chasing the stupid rocks and mannequins everywhere, I'm not even really sure I want it there
-not enough furniture collected! Working on that....
-moving all the houses "just a wee bit" is a nightmare, move em out, move em back...repeat because no, it needs to be one space that way...

And finally,... I can't seem to be able to achieve a "look". I was always bad with art and design, so it's really tough to have an idea in mind, but not be able to execute it. I want "cute", end up with cheesy. I want "spooky", end up with confused mess.
But I am still working on it, and honestly I think it's getting better. I get a lot of inspiration from other islands lol.

 

[FishHead]

I don't honestly know what i'm doing with my island. I have a neon area on my beach with a purple palm tree lamp, a purple pool, and galaxy flooring, but the rest of my island is completely normal, with some stone paths. I also set up a zen area on my island as well, just a lot of variety on my island lol

When you were describing your island it made me think of vegas or miami.

 

[Opal]

I'm going with a galaxy theme. I'm not sticking to it atm but after decorating my island I will customise/swap everything to the right colours. Themes work better if you get specific villagers to match them but I'm not going to do that, I'm just going to get whichever villager I like even if they don't fit the theme.

 

[Marshmallows]

Pff.. I'm all over the place. Florida + space coast + nautical + fantasy + cute candyland/sweets + forest.

I should have just called my island Flower-ida, because the flowers are covering almost every inch of my island, and I don't have the willpower to do a thing.

I admire people who can keep to one cohesive idea.

 

[rezberri]

ive been very bold with my theme ideas for someone whose island is bald. i wanted to go after a mushroom themed island but it's just. so qr code intensive to get that aesthetic across. i image its not as bad as im making it out to be, but i rly hate having to use things like that for paths so ive decided to mayhaps have a little mushroom aesthetic here and there, but not have it be the most prominent thing on my island.

now im going for a stardew valley-esque theme & it's coming along quite nicely. my island is still bald, but ive mostly planned out where things will be. now i just need money and motivation to move stuff. since farming has been heavily hinted at, ive decided to take drastic measures and plan my island around that. ive dedicated the north of my island to my character's house and farm. the way i have my island planned out, the section is almost entirely my own but villagers can still go there. im putting farming stuff, flower breeding, and an orchard in this area. it hasnt rly been developed yet bc of swimming but i can actually see where my ideas are taking me which is something i usually have trouble with. my villagers will live in a rurally modern neighborhood below and to the left side of my island, while my shops and stuff will be to the right.

im kind of sad bc i did want a more natural looking island (and especially a digsite for my rocks) but since im going to keep this save for years i can explore the other ideas ive had when i have more patience, money, and creativity.

 

[NyattaSama]

I'm trying to go for a gothic theme, but it's difficult. Overall, I want to achieve a more elegant look, kind of like an English garden, with only a small amount of spooky elements which I don't want to be too edgy and/or halloweeny. So far it's hard to do with the items available, I really hope that there will be more once October comes around. Right now, my main focus are black flowers and even though I've been breeding them since the beginning of April, I feel like I don't have nearly enough. I need tons of black roses but they seem to be growing rather slow, which is frustrating, and I have a grant amount of five(!) black cosmos. Also DIYs seem to be hard to come by, instead of the ones I need, my villagers love to give me duplicates.
I was very happy about the items we got from the wedding event, some of them were great to incorporate and gave me new ideas, but right now I'm kind of stuck again.
When it comes to ressources, I feel like I'm always running out of stone since most of the DIYs I find fitting require a lot.

I can donate a bunch of black roses to your island! I have a bunch of extra black cosmos, lilies and tulips as well. I would love to donate them to your gothic island c:

 

[MegaRush]

I wanted to have a really "musical" island once I learned about the hobbies and that some of the animals sing. So I'm trying to get a lot of villagers who have the music hobby, even if they are not my "usual" favorites I might have tried to have on my island. (This has also forced me to kind of "reconsider" some of my really old favorites, like Bluebear who has the fashion hobby, which I don't care for much. But I still might give her a "pass" if I have a chance to invite her someday.)

So I wanted to build a lot of little musical areas with different themes--like one area with rock instruments, another with "folky" instruments like the acoustic guitar, and so on with different musical genres. Since it's summer, I even have a little "tropical" themed area with hibiscus bushes, 3 ukuleles to play along with "K.K. Reggae", etc. But I also wanted to build a "jazz" themed area because it's my favorite genre, and I was shocked when I found out the big double bass isn't in this game like it was in City Folk and New Leaf. So I'm really bummed about that, but I just use the electric bass, which I love that they added it to this game because that's what I play.

 

[Sidney]

I've been going to a fairytale sorts of vibe

I've honestly still only got about 70% of my island done, and that's saying nothing of the beaches.....I'm nearing 400 hours in the game but i've still got a long way to go ^^

 

[meggiewes]

Right now, I have little sections on my island. There is a main "town" section. A section off for a more cultivated section for a big field of purple hyacinths. A section dedicated to a very lush, natural feel. An island on my island for a Japanese inspired touch. And some natural mori girl forests and cottagecore aesthetics.

Right now, I'm trying to figure out where I want to live and how I'm going to blend it into a little community because I want neighbors around my house.

 

[nageki]

i'm aiming for more of a small-town "retro" feel with my island (which is still under construction...rip) - lots of stone path and custom designs to make it look like worn-out roads, a japanese shrine at the top of a hill, and some small farming areas with rectangular dark dirt fields surrounded by 1-tile water canals! whether its actually working cohesively or not is...its not clear to me yet but im very happy with how its progressing! the hardest part is amassing all the small-item clutter it needs to feel cozy and lived-in

 

[SmrtLilCookie]

I was aiming to base my island roughly on a touristy mountain town I visited a few summers ago while on a road trip. So I started by creating a more rural yet built up business district (brick roads but no heavy city influence) and a nearby suburb with yards for all the villagers. I also left the upper tiers of my island fairly wild, with weeds and natural windy path, to create a sort of hiking trail.

But I soon realized I had a lot of different elements I wanted to incorporate that didn’t fit my main theme, like a music area, a Celeste-inspired star gazing area, and a zen space to grow bamboo trees. I had to let go of my original vision a bit and just let my island become unique. So now it’s a more rounded view of my inner psyche and what I value in life.

One of the main issues I’ve been having is sourcing foresty items for the hiking area, since most of these are fall DIYs. Patience is the real challenge at this point

 

[Sharksheep]

I don't really have a theme. Trying to stick to a natural looking and cute island. I am leaning towards a more functional island with some design. I have put 500+ hours in this game and I've very recently committed to a design. I could always redesign it later but I like what I have worked on so far.

 

[Bugs]

I'm going for a danger/adventure vibe with lava fields, lots of jumping and stepping stones, a barbarian village, a swamp with Venus fly traps, I'm trying to get all my villagers to be vaguely monsteresque and brutish so it looks like a bunch of rampaging monsters took over the island

 

[wanderlust//]

cottagecore/small village-y (?)

 

[chocosongee]

My island is ghibli themed! getting all the items and diys I needed wasn't THAT hard but took a lot of time and effort but the biggest struggle was the usage of the limited custom design slots because nearly all my slots were used to put up the scenes of different ghibli movies I put up around my island ;-; I still need more tbh even though I'm done with my island

 

[VelveteenCat]

I can donate a bunch of black roses to your island! I have a bunch of extra black cosmos, lilies and tulips as well. I would love to donate them to your gothic island c:

Really, are you sure? That would be so kind Thank you!

 

[TrippyKitten]

It's just kind of natural right now, I've been holding back on decorating a lot because I'm hoping to get some nice items in October for Halloween, plus in fall I can collect the mush DIYs and I'll be utilizing those a lot. For now, I'm just focused on pathing, getting villager houses where I want them, and figuring out what kind of areas I want to put in. Like, I have an idea to put in a hedge maze somewhere and I want to make a fairy village using the HHA bronze trophies as little mini houses if I can find some for sale or trade. Overall island theme will be dark and magical with a little celestial thrown in.