[thelist] file management practices for design shops

[Bart Johnston]

Hey everybody,

Lately, I've been trying to establish some solid file management practices
for the design firm I work for, and I'm curious about some of the solutions
that some of you out there might have come up with.  This is not specific to
web projects, but to design projects in general (identities, print
materials, interactive, etc.).

We have 5 designers who can fill up storage space like nobody's business.
With the sheer amount of files that they create, I'd like to set up a system
that helps them and others who might have to jump in a on a project to be
navigate through all the files to find whatever they need to find -- whether
it's a logo, or the most recent version of a brochure.

I know that there are some pretty serious (and expensive) versioning systems
out there, but what I'm really more interested in are naming schemes and
file management practices, and how those practices work in a multi-designer
environment.  How do you keep track of your works in progress, how do you
treat or denote your final files (e.g. press ready -- we always seem to end
up with lots of "poster_final_final_003.tif")?

I'm sure that some of you have run into problems like this before, and I'm
curious to hear any solutions you might have come up with.  I hope that this
discussion isn't too off-topic.

Thanks is advance!



Bart Johnston
Archrival
Digital Design and Communications