The main objective of this examination project is to present guidelines, which may accelerate the initial phase of artificial island design. The guidelines are restricted to the field of hydraulic engineering as only artificial islands in open sea are considered. Initially an extensive literature research was performed, not only with regard to the purposes to construct artificial islands but also to differentiate between possible types of artificial islands. From this literature research some general guidelines could be drawn up. The literature research also revealed the most frequently occurring problems, related to artificial island construction. These problems gave cause for more guidelines, e.g. guidelines in relation to sea defences, guidelines in relation to landfill and guidelines in relation to morphological impact.