How do you order/control client documentation and assets?

Question

I would class myself as a typical small developer/independant designer and I recently purchased some new hardware for the office and thought I better organise myself better than I have in the past.

So I am wondering how you all organise all your files etc so that you can find them easily enough, and relate them together.

Currently I have a webserver running on the desktop, and I have a folders called Projects, closed projects, etc and these each contain a folder with the client/website name and it contains their web folders structure. But what do you do with all the other files, typically I receive PSD's, zip files with CSS layouts, images, content documentation, emails, logos, specs, project documentation, PDFs to upload to the site etc.

Do you use another single folder (my documents) with a client name for each or is there a better way to keep control of all your client folders.

This is aimed particularly at programmers who get lots of information/resources from clients/managers and so I think its an important programming question on how you set yourself up, because a clean setup results in better coding.

Answer 1

I prefer to keep things as simple as possible. Each project I work on operates out of its own directory. I keep a sub-directory called "source" that contains ALL project related artifacts - documents, PSDs, zips, you name it.

I'll organize it organically over time as warranted, rather than trying to map out a complex directory structure ahead of time - usually only bits and pieces get used so I end up confusing myself if I take that approach.

Since I do my development work on OS X, a quick Spotlight search gets me the exact file I need pretty quickly without having to slog through lots of files. Google Desktop search offers similar functionality on a PC.

Answer 2

I usually create a Folder per client which is split into Resources, Projects and General

Into resources I throw logos, brochures, fonts etc which might be used over and ever between projects.

Projects would contain files relating to a particular job. I backup the project dev files from the dev server into this folder, and dump the SQL of project databases here as well.

General is for any correspondence I want saved (contracts, invoice PDF's etc)

I agree with Mark that it can be counterproductive to have too complex a folder structure in place.

Something else i also do, although not everyone might agree with this, is to take my source PSD with fonts, zip it and upload it to a protected src folder on the webserver when the job is complete. I've taken over sites where the client has been unhappy with their previous dev shop, where it has been a royal pain to make minor changes because I didn't have access to the fonts or source PSD and the previous company is either unwilling or very tardy in providing source files. It's been useful to me too, in cases where I'm travelling.