How do you guys arrange your folders?

Jri

Member
Dry stuff for a Friday night, I know - but I'm going to tidy up all of my artwork folders when I go back in to the studios on Monday and wanted to get a few ideas for how everyone else keeps things organised.

Currently I'm doing artwork for a bunch of different projects, which involves sketching things out in Photoshop, going over into Illustrator and tracing over the sketch/playing around with several artboards.

Basically, I produce a lot of non linear versions and ideas so I wind up with documents all over the place. How do you guys handle your folder structure?

I want to be able to come back to my current projects in a year or two's time and be able to navigate based on the fact that I will have used a standard filing convention.
 
I'm also going through 'restructuring' as well and this is basically how I'm currently looking to set it all up. It's designed more around archiving at the end of project if you get me.
Obviously you can skip bits you're not using and I'll use revision/dates when saving files. Using 'good backup' practices of course and yes there will be some duplication of files, but storage space is relatively cheap these days

  • Client Name
    • -Project Reference Number
      • --Client
        • ---Brief
        • ---Communications
        • ---Supplied Assets (may have sub folders)
        • ---Other (there's always something lol)
        • ---Payments (payment reference, invoices etc)
        • ---Legal (copy of applicable all T&C's, nda's etc at time of project)
      • --Initial Development
        • ---Brief breakdown
        • ---Initial Ideas (may have sub folders)
      • --Initial Concepts
        • ---Concept 1 - date (y.m.d) (may have sub folders)
        • ---Concept 2 - date (y.m.d) (may have sub folders)
        • ---Concept 3 - date (y.m.d).... repeat as many as needed/asked for
      • --Development (folders linked to initial concept by using same number and may have sub folders within each version of concept, may have more than one concept being developed)
        • ---Concept 3 - date (y.m.d)
          • ----Assets (ie textures etc)
          • ----v1 - date
          • ----v2 - date
      • --Finalised
        • ---Concept 3 v5 - date (y.m.d)
          • ----Project Files
            • -----3D & CAD
            • -----2D (ie photoshop, indesign etc)
            • -----Video
            • -----Project Resources
              • ------Textures
              • ------3D Assets
              • ------Fonts .
              • ------Stock Photos.....etc
      • --Supplied Files
        • ---Media
          • ----Video
          • ----Imagery
          • ----PDF.... etc
Hopefully you can understand all that lol
Dashes show position in folder structure hierarchy, colours are the same at each hierarchy level and are used to make it easier to see..... I hope
 
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Aha, this is good. Thanks man.

What you would call the 'red' level from your diagram is the part I'm having trouble organising at the minute.

I'm going with something similar, but much more basic:

Assets (Sub folders will depend on the assets I can get my hands on)
Idea Development V1 (Sketches, Early Concept, Sub folder for a first draft).
Idea Development V2 (As above, but post-feedback. Further folders may be generated in this fashion; V3, V4 etc... dependent on the quality/length of the drafting process. Each will contain a sub folder for the relevant draft generated by that phase of refinement).
Deliverables (Somewhere to house the final set of files that I produce).

Currently, my folder layout looks like this:

Disorder.jpg
 
Aha, this is good. Thanks man.

What you would call the 'red' level from your diagram is the part I'm having trouble organising at the minute.

I'm going with something similar, but much more basic:

Assets (Sub folders will depend on the assets I can get my hands on)
Idea Development V1 (Sketches, Early Concept, Sub folder for a first draft).
Idea Development V2 (As above, but post-feedback. Further folders may be generated in this fashion; V3, V4 etc... dependent on the quality/length of the drafting process. Each will contain a sub folder for the relevant draft generated by that phase of refinement).
Deliverables (Somewhere to house the final set of files that I produce).

Currently, my folder layout looks like this:
Some of mine is likely terminology, I come from product design (more often called industrial these days) so it's based around the way that I've been taught to work. Essentially the red section is the main stages I go through with the design process plus a folder with what is essentially what I have received/sent from the client.

I think you could sling in another folder similar to my 'client' folder and either within a sub folder or it's own folder I'd have a copy of exactly what you sent so if the client comes to you saying they lost such and such or you didn't send xyz, you can go and double check etc. The supplied files folder is also a simple way to move files if you utilise an ftp server from home or you have client storage on your website, you can just copy over a single folder or file from within it and/or zip it up for easy transport etc.

Other than that it seems ok to me as a 'red' section, you can always use sub folders to divide the main ones.
 
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