BEST FOLDER STRUCTURE FOR DESIGN PROJECTS

[@alvaror88]

I loved the way you actually go through the workflow of filing. thank you!

[@herrDOS]

Dude, thanks for the folder structure! Using it for the second project, it's very handy

[@mdsnotavailable]

Herman Tselinsky Glad it helps!

[@itrosic]

Amazing job dude. I like the chill mood of the edition.. i think that works great. Keep it up with the good job.

[@mdsnotavailable]

Iván Trosic Thanks!

[@JanetMacCallum]

Thanks. It's about time I got design organised...

[@DaveWilliames]

Great video dude!! Super helpful 👌🔥

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thanks, David 🙌

[@jakemk27]

thanks for these videos man! super insightful

[@mdsnotavailable]

Jake Kwaschnefski You bet!

[@yagozardo]

A big thanks from 2021 :D

[@mdsnotavailable]

🙌

[@woodenhifi]

Great video. I use a similar structure. I only use Invision for sharing with clients these days - even wireframes. Not only for the comments but it forces them to see it at the property resolution. Can't bare the thought of them looking at it at 75% zoom!!

[@woodenhifi]

Proper resolution

[@mdsnotavailable]

Nice. I use Invision occasionally for delivering designs. Depends on the project and the relationship with the client for me.

[@Coffeeratgaming]

thanks for video helps me out for some better folder strustureing clients-> contracts, project_name -> sub folder of each design type-> assets,exports,process,proof, inside process a sub folder for each program -> inside is a archive folder and the root is files are the current vertion

[@kakauefebe]

I love it! You save my work life! hahahahaha

[@mdsnotavailable]

Woot! Glad it helps :)

[@yoRRnl]

Hi MDS, what a nice way of working. After 10 years i am still not happy how to deal with projects in photoshop and illustrator. A question tho.. why are you using the _ on the archive map? I moved from macos to windows10. I dont think it will be very different in overal

[@mdsnotavailable]

yoRRnl thanks! I use the underscore to keep that folder at the very top. I’ve also used X_archive to put it last-alphabetically. More of a personal preference.

[@yoRRnl]

@@mdsnotavailable tha ks for your quick response! :)

[@adriengriveau5308]

keep going the good work! Can you make a tutorial on how I should organize my dock thx!

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thanks, Adrien! You mean the Mac Dock? I think that's more a matter of personal preference... ;)

[@JeremyWilliamson]

Just found this video.. cool channel and good video, but that first link in the description is a dead link. *_Do you have an updated version by any chance?_* Thanks so much! #Subscribed #COmmented #Liked

[@kevinfox6714]

Great video! I noticed that the "_archive" folder that you created is stuck at the top and has a separator line under it. Could you elaborate on how this is done? It seems like a great feature!

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Kevin Fox If you right click in the directory and choose the view options by "kind" I think that's how you do it ...

[@GregoryFitzgeraldPhillips]

I think the question is regarding the use of the Underscore " _ ". When this is used the OS sees this as a special charicter. Like numbers, these are read as being first before alphabetical characters. For Example, if you name a file "01 File" this will appear sorted before "File". or if you have a file "apple" and "apple new" place the underscore before apple new. "_apple new". And now this "_apple new" will appear first when sorted.

[@liquidx99]

this video was great. have you thought of keeping a reference folder? For anything that might inspire you when designing. like type treatments, ux patterns you'd want to use in a app?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Rashan Casseus totally, sometimes I make a reference folder in assets 👍

[@annCHIfashion]

thanks for the great tips

[@HackerFull666]

Hey ! Great video ! You got a new sub ;) Btw, would you have the name of the standing desk with the imac on it that is behind you ? Thanks a lot

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thanks so much! I built that desk based on some friend's desks at a coworking space in Greenville, SC. You can see those plans here: www.simplifiedbuilding.com/blog/building-an-adjustable-height-standing-desk/ 👍

[@HackerFull666]

Great! Thanks a lot for the feedback!

[@dankort]

So tell me, how did you get the three dots in the upper left corner of the windows gray? Harmonizes well with the rest, I like it.

[@dankort]

Never mind, solved

[@mdsnotavailable]

It's a setting in System Preferences: mds.io/tOmo

[@aranshuttlewood5074]

Hey man, great video, so useful. One question: Where do you put any research & discovery/analysis'? - 'Non-design' stuff that you might need to present to a client or just store somewhere as a reference?

[@pelegred6123]

awesome, very informative and useful! how do you manage feedback ? does it get a place in the folder structure or stay in the email? thanks!

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Peleg Red That really depends on the client, project, and team dynamic. Always different.

[@Dusko351]

How you organize your icons and other resources?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Typically things like that would go into the Assets folder and broken down from there accordingly.

[@thehunterdillinger6913]

So is your assets folder simply for anything thats come FROM the client? So if you had a collection of images to use in a project would you put them in the assets folder or would you use your photoshop folder for example? Great video! Subd :)

[@mdsnotavailable]

Not only client assets. It might have anything inside of it that is an asset to the project. Maybe a "decks" folder for keynote presentations, or an "images" folder for ... images. ;)

[@thehunterdillinger6913]

Got it - Just implemented your structure over the past few days since I picked up a new machine I figured I'd start off in the right way. Working like a charm. You the man!

[@HaydenHancock0]

For versioning, what are the downsides of using something like Git?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Hayden Hancock I don’t see any downsides other than it would be slower for me to do that.

[@mdsnotavailable]

Hayden Hancock Dropbox also has its own built in versioning in the web UI based off Git

[@howiewang4238]

Great content. About "_archive", I understand it is a name convention. But Why do we need add UNDERSCORE before ARCHIVE folders?

[@mdsnotavailable]

I personally do it so _archive stays at the top when sorted alphabetically. I've also seen people use z_archive so it stays at the bottom. Definitely a personal preference.

[@gpenston]

Really good stuff, Matt. My structure is very similar but I'm liking the idea of "assets" and "review". I was using "resources" and "export". I've noticed some designers using Sketch's pages features to break up their versions. How do you feel about this? I feel pages in Sketch are fairly misunderstood or people don't know what to make of them. I tend to do what you do and just make duplicate files for each version. Lastly, have you played around with Sketch Cloud at all to show your clients Sketch files from there? Dropbox does make it easy and being able to have client comment and annotate right there would be cool. Not sure if Dropbox or Sketch Cloud offer this yet. Again, good stuff. Rock on!

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thanks, George! I don't use a ton of Sketch pages other than Symbols, Screens, Archive, and sometimes Library, which I use sometimes for components. Haven't used Sketch Cloud at all.

[@bfauzi339]

thanks Matt,, its very helpfull, and inspiring ;)

[@bfauzi339]

and you get one your loyal fans :D

[@JaredLodwickDesign]

How are you getting the low opacity effect on your windows? 😱

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Jared Lodwick Putting my screen recording on top of my camera footage and setting opacity to 95% 😎

[@JaredLodwickDesign]

Matt D. Smith I wondered if that's what you were doing but thought "no way it's that simple and looks that good." It's a great effect!

[@davehudson8264]

Do you work solely from your dropbox folders? If so, I'm assuming you always need to be online to reference the files? And do you ever have issues if you're editing something large (like a video) with performance since the files aren't on your local hard drive? Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Also thanks for the videos, I've been binging them, lol. Always great to see designers workflows!

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thanks for watching, Dave! The files are saved locally first and only afterwards synced to Dropbox, so internet not required to access them. I never store video files on my local drive-always on my external. No videos on Dropbox either. The get way too large.

[@davehudson8264]

Matt D. Smith thanks for the response! do you use something like an app that automates syncing of local folders/files to your dropbox folder? also for video just to clarify you only house it on your external drive, even when you're editing? does that effect processing while editing? is there any type of external drives you recommend, perhaps specifically for video? do you do any other things to help keep your files automatically backed up too, in case of crash etc? I feel like I'm conducting a poll, haha. thanks for the insight though man!

[@mdsnotavailable]

Ha, all good. Happy to answer. Dropbox creates a "Dropbox" folder on your machine and anything you put in it will sync. I keep all of my work in subfolders within "Dropbox" I do use selective sync so I have some stuff in Dropbox that's not all in my computer. For video, it's pretty standard to keep your footage on external drives. Those files eat storage super fast and would load up your computer pretty quickly. I use and love the the Lacie drives. Here's my fave: amzn.to/2otJvO9 I used to use external drives paired with Mac's time machine, but not anymore. Now I rely on Dropbox 100% for backups.

[@davehudson8264]

thanks again, you rock!

[@davehudson8264]

Hey Matt - I've adapted your google drive structure, it's awesome. I've also been trying to experiment and find a good workflow for backing up photos / videos now too. What do you do for this? Do you use a second external HD in case the external you're working off of crashes? Do any apps automate this process; i.e. plugin external HD's and it automatically syncs between them?

[@jalendixon1264]

What was that orange gadget at the beginning?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Orange gadget? The rolling whiteboard?

[@RMuliaina]

First time UX? What's that?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Another phrase for "onboarding" Like the very first time someone uses an app instead of a repeat user, etc.

[@RayAteMushrooms]

Why don't you use Sketch Cloud link instead of Dropbox review folder link for reviewing?

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Ray Yip Mainly because I started using Dropbox this way before Sketch even existed. Dropbox stores everything for me and not just design files.

[@kristinludlowUX]

Or Invision? I love Dropbox for my freelance stuff, and, as a current in-house designer, we are all on Invision / Craft and it works for us really well.

[@pandanamin7104]

HAHA! LOVE THE VIDEOS KEEP EM COMING BIG GUY! @Matt D. Smith

[@mdsnotavailable]

👊 Thanks, Amin!

[@OfficialDevTips]

Just subscribed, you seem like a cool dude :)

[@mdsnotavailable]

DevTips Thanks dude! Someday you'll have to share your story about your KZbin journey with me :)

[@OfficialDevTips]

Absolutely. Maybe we find a time soon for a skype or something. I can hit you up on the epicurrence slack

[@JRIngram]

YAS 👌

[@mdsnotavailable]

👊

[@Staine2009]

At the moment when you share your document to the client via dropbox what is the client supposed to do ? Comments ? Give feedback on the design or just have a look at the aspect ? Why don't you use Invision to share the design and collect feedback (since craft is powerfull for that ? is there any reason to that ? :) Btw, after watching your video I started to clean all my folder (yeah... I was in the dark side with those file named .final-final-last *dooh*)

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Staine2009 hah, I typically get client feedback on a video call or screen share, but that depends on what I'm presenting and what point during the project. I never just send new designs without being able to present them.

[@Staine2009]

Thx for your answer ! You never use tools like Invision (paired with a video call or something else) ? I'm still trying to figure out the best way to present a design or help the client to be included in an easy worflow with the designer/rest of the team.

[@mdsnotavailable]

I do you Invision/Comments from time to time, but that's often after I've received buy in for the design at large and we're ironing out nitty gritty details.

[@bfauzi339]

the link structure file not working?

[@mdsnotavailable]

Bahrudin Khoiri Fauzi the link works for me

[@bfauzi339]

the domain I think, ".io" I change to .is and it works

[@GregoryFitzgeraldPhillips]

Thanks for this Video I really like the insights you have from the experience you have from your company and working with others. I create automated file structures using Automator to help me create file structures on new projects. Saves me a little bit more time right off the start when creating a File Structure or Tree. I would be happy to send you some info on how this is done if you want and it is really easy.

[@mdsnotavailable]

+Gregory Fitzgerald Phillips Nice. I have a empty project folder that I copy and rename for that 👍👍

[@primetimetran]

Where you living in the world bro? I noticed you have a Viettel folder imgur.com/a/GsRLy which is in Vietnam. I'm currently living and working in Hanoi(although I'm from the U.S.[born & raised])

[@mdsnotavailable]

Loi Tran I'm in Athens, GA (USA) That Viettel project never panned out =)

[@primetimetran]

I feel ya. Crazy how small the world is though sometimes =)

[@primetimetran]

Cool videos man. I was suggested to your Advanced Symbols vid. I learned a lot there.

[@mdsnotavailable]

Loi Tran 👍👍

[@primetimetran]

Btw I lived in Tallahassee for 10 years until about a year ago. We were practically neighbors. haha

[@ng1604]

I am guilty of the final file fallacy.

[@daephx]

cool bass into, too loud

[@RaEeSir]

Good video, very helpful. Am I the only one who gets a little grossed out by the saliva noises between Matt speaking? lol

[@mdsnotavailable]

Swiftau haha, I noticed that after a few rounds of editing. It's pretty painful to watch all of your own weird quirks. not sure what's going on there, lol. Working on NOT doing that for future vids. 😜

[@RaEeSir]

I think it's a natural thing we all do. It sounds like you're just swallowing after speaking. But your microphone must be really good as it's picking it up haha nonetheless, thanks for the video mate :)

[@nyeo]

😮 spaces and periods in file name... I can't watch this anymoooore 😂

[@mdsnotavailable]

Naim Sheriff haha, used to use only hyphens, but Spotlight search seems to work better with spaces :)

[@GregoryFitzgeraldPhillips]

Using the period on MAC OS will not present as many problems as using the period on a PC OS. PC OS will have some issues depending on the applications and read this as a file type. This is a tough one to solve for file naming conventions as spaces can have similar pros and cons and hyphens. It's one of those... "try the best" you can and learn from the issues that come up.

[@Coffeeratgaming]

terrible for network file server navigation tho

[@Coffeeratgaming]

honestly depends if client needs to rename a files because they a network based storage such as a nas or something navigating straight to a folder with spaces just does not work to well

[@skrumb]

my ears? obliterated

[@fajarafriansh]

your intro almost hurt my ear

[@mdsnotavailable]

I’ll try harder next time

[@carlperl412]

DISLIKE!

[@mdsnotavailable]

Thank you for your comment.

[@carlperl412]

@@mdsnotavailable fuck you!

[@mdsnotavailable]

@@carlperl412 Thank you for your second comment.