Animal Crossing: New Horizons: How to Create and Find Custom Designs

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has only been available for a few days now, but the game has already inspired some incredible designs. Anyone looking through social media over the past few days can find custom hockey jerseys, movie posters, dresses, and more. While social distancing has likely played a role in the creation of a lot of new designs, part of the reason that custom designs are so prolific is the fact that New Horizons allows players to upload their creations from Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, as well. For newer fans, this might seem confusing, but accessing these designs is a rather simple process!

QR Codes can be generated after players create a new design. In New Horizons, players can start to create their own custom designs once the Able Sisters have moved into town. Once players are happy enough with their designs to share them, they can then generate QR codes for them so they can be shared online.

To download designs created by other players, players must use the Nintendo Switch Online mobile app. Once players have downloaded the app to their phone and synced it up with NookLink in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players can then scan any QR code design they see online and send it to their game! Syncing your mobile device and Nintendo Switch is a fairly easy process, and the Nintendo Switch Online app will essentially walk you through it. Players that want to take things a step further will find that there are websites that will convert any image into an Animal Crossing image, which can then be uploaded through the app and into New Horizons.

The whole process might seem a bit complicated, but once players are into the swing of things, they'll be creating their own designs and sharing them online with others. What's truly amazing about this is the fact that designs players created years ago are now being discovered by new audiences for the very first time. It's certainly a great way for the community to bond over the various games in the series, and show off the things they've worked hard on over the years. With the Animal Crossing franchise's explosion in popularity, it seems likely that these designs will continue to be shared for years to come!

Have you created any designs in Animal Crossing: New Horizons yet? What's the best design you've found in the game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts (and creations) directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!