Guide
How to organize creative assets by project
A practical folder structure for briefs, source assets, working files and deliverables, with a routine for filing new downloads.
Start with one home for each project
A folder called Images tells you what a file is. A folder called North Studio — Launch Film tells you why you kept it. For a project with footage, stills, briefs and exports, keeping related work together makes it easier to pick up again or hand over.
Choose a project folder outside your incoming pile of Downloads and Desktop files. If a team already has a structure, use it. For a new project, this is a starting point you can adapt:
- Brief and references: the brief, feedback, moodboards and visual references.
- Source assets: footage, audio, photographs and supplied artwork.
- Working files: the editable documents you use to make the work.
- Renders: previews and intermediate exports.
- Deliverables: the versions approved for handoff.
Create only the folders you need. A small illustration job may need three; a film may need subfolders inside Source assets for footage and sound. Avoid spending longer designing the structure than using it.
File incoming assets before placing them
Identify the project
When a brief, archive or reference lands in Downloads, decide which project it belongs to. If you cannot tell, preview it or check the message it arrived with.
Choose the file’s role
A supplied logo belongs with source assets; a screenshot used for visual direction belongs with references. Choose by how the file will be used.
File it, then use it
Put a new asset into its intended folder before importing or placing it in your creative app. That avoids moving it immediately after the document begins referencing its location.
Resolve name clashes deliberately
Two files called logo.ai might be different versions or different clients’ logos. Compare them before replacing either one. Keep an uncertain version separately until you know which is needed.
For the launch film, a music download goes into Source assets, a feedback PDF into Brief and references, and the approved film into Deliverables. Keep the editable project file with Working files so the next person can distinguish the source project from its output.
Handle existing linked files carefully
For work already in progress, start by locating its dependencies. Moving a linked asset changes its path even when its filename stays the same. A tidy folder is not proof that the project will reopen correctly.
Use your creative app’s collection or packaging tools where available. In After Effects, File ▸ Dependencies ▸ Collect Files gathers copies of project dependencies; Adobe describes the feature in its project documentation. Open the collected project and check it before retiring the old working copy.
Keep a short note of app versions, plug-ins and licensed resources needed to reopen the work. Treat the archive as something another person should be able to understand, even if that person is you six months later.
Keep a clear handoff
Reserve Deliverables for approved output. Keep drafts in Renders or another clearly named review folder. A short README can name the main project file, the final export and any dependencies that need installing separately.
Once the job is finished, follow the external-drive archiving workflow. If incoming files are the bottleneck, start with the Downloads guide.
Use Sorting Room for the incoming pile
Sorting Room lets you define projects and their folder roles, or adopt subfolders you already use. It presents incoming files as cards so you can send them into a project with a keystroke.
It keeps filenames unchanged and offers Skip, Replace or Put in _conflicts when names clash. That helps with daily filing. You still need to collect dependencies and check linked files before moving an established project.
Coming soon to the Mac App StoreCurrently under App Store review.