making islands designs functional

[voltairenism]

so, I like to watch a lot of island tours, and tour then myself as well. Some island look absolute beautiful, but then I realized something: it's not functional. The most straightforward example is beach decorations, some people have it so cluttered you cant reach the shore - so you cant fish. I had mine very decorated, once I saw a fin shadow in a place I couldn't reach ;-; it was the last straw. Some stuff actually helps, like rock garden. But yk...
Putting so many trees you can't find wasps, furniture and fossils, or block the view and you can't find your villagers, not having space for blowing up ballons or fishing on the river, and so on. Something I had on my old island is that the paths were so curved with so many detours that it took me like two minutes to go from my house to Nook's Cranny (I started using Rescue Service a lot lol)
Anyway, how do you balance functionality and decoration? Do you care more about being functional or pretty? Also tell me creative things you saw/came up with to make gardening/fishing/etc easier!

 

[Clock]

I feel like function is more important, while there is many nice towns, its hard to do dailies with a lot of decoration when everything is blocking the way.
I feel like its better to do half and half.

 

[sdw4527]

That was pretty much my first thought that made me feel better about my own island after seeing so many of the amazing looking ones on social media. I definitely have mine as more of a functional island than a decorative one. That's not to say it isn't developed though lol. I still have paths leading everywhere and a shopping district, 2 residential districts, camping ground etc. They're just not overly decorated to the point where traversing them becomes a chore.

 

[Rosch]

I don't over decorate. Too much decor, while pleasing to the eye, can technically become clutter. As you've pointed out, it can hinder ordinary activities like fishing and catching bugs. I always make sure to consider the spaces so I can go from point A to point B without any hindrance.

So yeah, functionality is my priority.

 

[bebebese]

I prefer function over form, so I build paths along the areas I walk the most/the shortest distance between two points, and decorate the in-betweens. Any areas that aren't a house or important building can be decorated, like as a bamboo garden or a waterfall. I am guilty of using two many trees, though, and I like to line pathways with flowers but as I mostly use dirt paths it's a bit of a chore to clear up new flowers after it rains.

I don't have fences along my rivers or ponds, so fishing is already as easy as it gets for me, but some fences can be fished over, if you'd still like to use them as a decoration while remaining functional.

 

[Khaelis]

Very few will master functionality of their island. It is incredibly hard to pull off with limited space, and sometimes aesthetics are just better over functionality because sometimes it just won't look good compared to something with a lot of thought put into it.

As for myself, I try to do 80% aesthetic, 20% functionality. The 20% are just the areas where they matter. Shops, walk-ways, etc.

 

[Xara]

i’m kinda of in-between. i try to have things as functional as possible to make playing easier for me but i also really like the idea of having a pretty island - i don’t want decorations covering every inch or anything but it’s nice to think about having an island design that is functional and convenient as well as nice to look at aha

 

[Marshmallows]

Functionality is probably most important for me. I hate not being able to reach a spot or have to take the long way around. Certain items I'm okay with not being able to reach, but for the most part I like things functional.

Right now I'm having issues with my flowers and balloons... I have too many flowers and it's annoying sometimes.

 

[KayDee]

You can definitely have both. I’d say my island is pretty developed with lots of furniture but within those areas I have rivers running through with areas to fish and trees/flowers planted that are both decorative but serve its function.

 

[Barney]

I like to have plenty to look at in certain scenes, but I place things so that I can move freely at all times as much as possible, so there's none of this awkward sidestepping animations needed to move around (I'd say I'm 99% successful at this).

 

[voltairenism]

I prefer function over form, so I build paths along the areas I walk the most/the shortest distance between two points, and decorate the in-betweens. Any areas that aren't a house or important building can be decorated, like as a bamboo garden or a waterfall. I am guilty of using two many trees, though, and I like to line pathways with flowers but as I mostly use dirt paths it's a bit of a chore to clear up new flowers after it rains.

I don't have fences along my rivers or ponds, so fishing is already as easy as it gets for me, but some fences can be fished over, if you'd still like to use them as a decoration while remaining functional.

I didn't know you could fish over fences!! Also I understand the flower struggle </3 I like to put them everywhere and after it rains I have to check my whole island

 

[Noctis]

Tell me about it. My island is the same. I had regrets of placements. I really need to fix the placement of my coconut trees so I can snag that one bug also same thing with trees. Good thing I still have a good chunk of undeveloped area and I moved some trees all the way to the back so I can catch bugs. Also with balloons sometimes I have to wait until it reaches an area so I can snipe it or else that present goes bye bye

 

[fallenchaoskitten]

Oh goodness the number of times I have seen massive "watery" islands where it is impossible to even river fish. >.>
I just automatically assume these people have a full museum, thus do not call to ever fish. lol

Mine is I see so many cute designs and layouts people put on their docks. It's already hard enough to fish on the stupid thing because of there the fish spawn. Then these people go and make it basically impossible to do now. @.@ ... granted, it does look really nice most of the time.

 

[Peach_Jam]

When I first started decorating, I definitely wanted to give my island a "clean" look. I didn't want to cover every inch with flowers and random items because I didn't want to make the island feel stuffy. Of course, I still want my island to look pretty and fit my aesthetic. Because of this, it's taking a while to finish my island but I don't mind because it gives me time to think about the functionality and practicality of my ideas etc

 

[Luxsama]

I'm revising and working on my island for this very reason, while it looks beautiful it's impossible to fish rivers

Even my orchard before, it was so hard to see fruits bc they were all cluttered together but now it's better

It's just the 8 incline limit that's throwing me so off so it's hard

 

[jokk]

i lean functional, but i make it pretty whenever possible. i like to have as much useable space as possible, so i didn't go crazy with terraforming

 

[pup]

some of the pretty islands i see i would never want to visit or play on. i can appreciate that approach, though!

function and ease of movement is key in how i'm trying to design my island, but i still want to incorporate some fun and beautiful elements. i'm still figuring out what that balance is. i designed my entrance to make it really easy for visitors to find nook & able sisters, but i'm going to make some tweaks so i have a clear area for trade pick ups as well. i'm always trying to keep visitors in mind when i lay things out (but this is also overwhelming so only 15% of my map is developed and the rest is a mess lol).

 

[Fendi]

I definitely value functionality over aesthetics. Don't get me wrong, I have seen so many incredible islands, and I cannot even fathom how some have made them, but just navigating around them seems like a lot of work. I know everyone has different preferences when it comes to decorating, but when I made my island, I had the idea of making it easy to find things, and I prioritize the importance of using space.

I usually tend to go overboard with decorating in the past, but then I realized how important it is to not have everything and the kitchen sink on display. It's tempting to showcase as many decorations as possible, but I had to draw the line where it just becomes cluttered over being usable.

That's why I love using wide pathways and signs to make everything easy to spot. When it comes to bodies of water, I make sure to just put them in select areas. I initially had waterfalls almost everywhere on my island, but the constant sound of running water was enough to drive me crazy, so I limited it to only two now.

 

[SmrtLilCookie]

I definitely went for functionality. Most of my island it incredibly open, and the paths are all at least two squares wide. I often get impatient walking along designated paths, so I try not to clutter up the grass with flowers or decor so I can I go tearing off in any direction I want at a moment’s notice. On other islands I visit I’m often blown away by how well the aesthetics work, but once I try to move I find myself constantly running into hidden shrubs/fences, or nearly taking out one of endless rows of flowers. So it can sometimes slow me down when I’m trying to make a visit quick so others can come in after me. I understand how nice it looks, but gosh if the real world was that tightly picked I’d be covered in bruises

 

[amylsp]

I use the running test on my island. I love to decorate but only if I can easily navigate/run through the area in a way that doesn't significantly block function or slow me down moving from one area to the next. If I set up a block in certain areas, it's to encourage traffic in a different direction. I do have a few areas that require the 'side step animation', but those are in small decorated areas, not major thoroughfares.