A bit of a different approach today in Obsessions: We’re going to look at three apps I’ve pointed out in the past. But these I’ve kept using, which has led to some interesting expansions of my capabilities.
I’ve been spending a lot of time on the road lately, which means I’ve been spending more time working between many machines than I would have just a few years ago. When I was working with Thirst in my early career, the most valuable lesson Rick Valicenti taught me is that I must organize and archive my work accurately and thoroughly—the thought being that you are your own librarian and historian. You never know when an unused sketch for one project will become useful to another project, and the ability to access those files in their most recent forms is absolutely crucial. So with that as a given, let’s look at how I structure and store my projects across my devices.
As I design, I title my files in a common syntax I’ve developed over the years: job name yyyy mm dd xx. The job name is the name of the project, followed by the year in four digits, then the month and day in two digits, then a two-digit number for a version number. Using this syntax, I can keep track of every single major change to a job’s design throughout the day. The point at which a file version changes is largely reliant upon where major changes in design happen. This way, I am creating a searchable history of my work—so as time goes on, I can find specific files very easily just by knowing who it was for and the approximate date I worked on it.
Now go forth into the world and do… whatever it is you do. Just do it without needing to wonder where all your stuff is, or what you called it, for once in your life. Enjoy!