Keeping Client Files Organized

A lot of my friends and past co-workers have always commented me saying that I’m one of the most organized person they know. When people do recognize how organized I am I take it has a compliment.

To me being organized is very important. If you were to step into my office (bedroom) you would see that everything has a place and it’s the same for my e-mail, music, DVDs, etc. More important though my client project files.

There are other means of doing this and in time you’ll find what works best for you. Just remember this is just a guide. At the end of the post there is a link for you to download what I like call Bare Bones. This file download has all the necessary folders that I use for all my clients projects including my own personal projects.

Before we take a closer look at the bare bones folder there are three folders I use to keep work files on my Mac even more organized.

Work Cubicle: The main directory that houses sub directory’s of my client and personal projects. This is located in my Documents folder as well as the Finder Sidebar for quicker access.

I really wish I had an answer to why the main directory folder is called Work Cubicle. It’s just one of those random things but works. Here are a couple more examples of what you could name your main work folder.

• Work Cabinet
• Work Space

clients: Holds my project files for each individual client. I place a copy of the Bare Bones folder and change the folder name to the company or personal name of the client.

personal: Just like above but just for my own personal work.

[ BARE BONES FOLDER ]

client-files: This folder houses all the images, text, etc. that the client has given to me prior or during the project.

final-docs: Once a project is completed I place a flatten un-editable version of the project here. In most cases clients receive this version of the project if they have not bought the editable files.

invoices: Any type of invoice I receive from purchasing stock photos, fonts, etc. get filed in this folder. Along with the invoice I send to the client for payment. For my personal invoices I use the invoice number assigned to the client (i.e. SO-000-0002).

source-files: Files from Photoshop (.psd), InDesign (.indd), Illustrator (.ai) or any type “raw” files that I can edit at any time will be added to this folder.

www-files: If coding a website all the files associated with website will be filed in this folder (images, html pages, css, etc).

There you have it! This is how I keep my client projects orgazined on my Mac. If you like the system I use or want to give this system a try feel free download the Bare Bones folder.

Until next time happy orgazining!