folders – Shit, you found me

Like me, you might have a world of creative resources floating around anywhere from your downloads folder to your desktop or in job folders.

Here is my attempt to help organise your creative assets.
Download the creative resources folder structure.

Here’s what it’s made up of

The root contains almost all types of files you would need or have in your creative library, from vectors and audio to video and Photoshop actions.

In most folders, 3 sub-folders exists to help keep you organised

Most of the folders have 3 sub-folders; Flat (photographs and raster images), PSD (layered photoshop files) and Vector (editable files such as AI, EPS, etc.).

Special Folders have also been created to house specific content types.

Add-ons

Were you would keep all your Photoshop actions, colour palettes, scripts, etc.

Audio

To store FX, Loops and Music, which have all been created with their specific sub-categories.

The Music folder is organised by genre each with 2 sub-folders for Clips and full Songs:

Fonts

Sub-folders for easy navigation of different types of fonts. Remember, the more fonts you install, the slower your computer!

Images

This one took a lot of thinking. Eventually I decided it makes more sense to categorise by subject, then by Flat (photographs and raster images), PSD (layered photoshop files) and Vector (editable files such as AI, EPS, etc.).

Themes

For Keynote, WordPress and other theme-able platforms.

Video

Almost exactly the same as Images, but also including folders for FX and Overlays.

You will notices that a few of the folders have place for licenses, as it is always good practice to organise them well.

Download the creative resources folder structure, give it a try and let me know what you think!

If you’re a designer, freelance or part of an agency, you’ll understand the frustration when your own filing system is so bad, you get lost in your own work.

Although I am not a designer anymore, I was going through my old work and started the process of filing, properly. This led me on to some articles on folder structure and organisation, which eventually led me to the conclusion that I should put some thing together and share it.

The system is quite simple and you can download the whole client folder structure here.

Here’s what it’s made up of

In the root of the client folder (which you would rename to the client’s name) are 3 folders: Admin is where all the top line administration for that client is kept; Corporate Identity is where that client’s CI is stored separately to jobs and finally a Project Folder is which you would duplicate when needed for each new project.

A suggestion: Always give folders a decent name, perhaps starting with the job number, then a title, and then a date. That way they will always be unique and easily found.

The Admin Folder

The Admin Folder consists of 4 folders and 1 file. Invoices is where to keep your invoices for each job; Legal is for contracts and agreements; Operations is for procurement documentation, purchase orders, etc. and lastly; People is where you keep track of who is who at your client.

The People spreadsheet acts as a simple CRM

I put together a “People” spreadsheet that helps you track names, contact details and relationships, think of it as a super-simple CRM for yourself.

The Project Folder

The Project Folder similarly has 4 folders within it; Admin, Input, Output and WIP.

The Admin Folder houses your briefs, cost estimates and proposals.

The next 3 folders allows you to manage your workflow by separating Input (what client has supplied you), WIP (work in progress) and Output (what you supply to clients and or 3rd parties).

Download the client folder structure, give it a try and let me know what you think!

If you liked this, you may like this article on organising your design/creative resources.