How does everyone file their work?

I always start with something solid and easy... [The client's name]

After that I create 'category' folders for different types of work.
[Identity]
- Logo
- ID Package
[Collateral]
[Website]

Inside of the category folders I organize by date and title.
[Collateral]
- 2006-09.27 'Client Name' Brochure [JOB12345]

Inside of a project folder I have another subset for 'aspects' and 'stages' of the project.
[Original Material]
[Concepts]
- Research
- Concept 01-1
- Concept 01-2
- Concept 02-1
[Final]
[To Printer]

The nice thing with this system is:
[1] You don't need a database to find a particular project when a client calls you 5 years later wanting to pick something up with revisions.

[2] You automatically get a chronological overview of the work you've done for a client within a give category.

[3] If you label the project with a job number [which clients rarely remember] you can do a simply search to find it's location.

Note:
I've worked in environments done entirely by job numbers and it was a NIGHTMARE. Clients don't remember them and it can be a mess trying to find something. I've implemented this 'folder level' organization system at a newspaper with over 25,000 ad designs and we never missed a beat.

When finding something we'd done previously we simply told the sales reps to get some simple information from the client. [Client Name] DUH! - [Approximate Date Previous Ad Ran] - [Approximate Ad Size] - [GENERAL DESCRIPTION]. Within seconds we could show the rep a handful of options and be on our way. Now we've created a mirrored folder structure for the sales reps containing PDF proofs of everything we've done and taught them how to do all of the research with the client on the phone. It really sends a message when a client can call next week, next year or 100 years from now and you pinpoint what they want within seconds.

I hope this helps. Best of luck!

Creative NRG has a great system that I am thinking of trying as I populate my client list. For now I call master folders with client name. Inside I categorize in: Demo: Shows all studies and preliminaries
Documentation: Contracts, invoices, proposals etc
Print: Everything that is printed
Identity: logos, palette, corporate guide, etc
Web: folder for website projects and e-newsletters
Images: general images including potential stock images
Miscellaneous: exactly that

I guess the computer system I use has helped me organize my work too. I use mac os x which has colors for folders and files and other cool things.

Good luck

At my work, we have to use a certain file structure. We use a server and workflows to process our stuff (we are a unique, specialty which requires a lot of things you don't see in general off set-- such as absolutely no trapping, we butt-register colors and use only PMS colors).

We keep everything on one server and work from there-- nothing is on our computers (we're still working out the font issue).

Basically, we have a database that the customer service people work from. This issues a job number.

We save a folder with jobnumber_customernumber-- this is also the name of the actual illustrator file we work with. We have a folder for files we're referencing, customer files, and our actual files for the current job.

In our actual job folder, we have subfolders for our working (stuff we used for the job but not required for output), final (all files for output), any postscript files are in a folder, and a font folder.

And I made an apple script to make all my folders for me ! :)

I keep all client's work on a separate drive that's automatically backed up every night. Each client is listed in the "Active Clients" folder by company name. Inside each folder is the specific project that we're working on.

I have on my desktop, a folder called "NewProject." Inside this folder are 3 folders named "• Originals," "• Proofs," and "• Finals." I put bullets in these folder titles because whatever I put into the root folder, these pre-named folders are always at the top of the list when accessing them from within applications.

• Originals: Where we put the stuff clients send us to work from
• Proofs: All project-related proofs go here. If it's a single layout like a brochure, poster or flier, I always name each proof subsequently; Poster-01.jpg, Poster-02.jpeg, Poster-03.jpg, etc.
• Finals: Contains the files that are printed or published.

When a new project comes in, I simply drag and drop the "NewProject" folder from the desktop, into my "Active Clients" folder and rename with the appropriate client's name.

Creates a good starting place and also helps when pulling finals from archive for reprint.

Terry Thornh