We recommend that this category includes notes about, and/or links to, the location of the original creative files for your marketing. Because they do not live here.

For example, logos, banners, photos, videos, or approved wording.

If these are files that you reuse over and over, there should be one copy in 40-49 Library of creative inputs. When you need something for a marketing campaign, go there and get it.

Conversely, if there are files that are specific to a particular job, they should live in that job’s folder in 50-59 Portfolio of creative outputs.

For example, you make a new product video for social media. The raw footage, audio, and final export live in that job’s folder. But you manage the overall campaign here.

Same goes for your website. Making (or updating) the content is a job in 50-59. But if you download and review your analytics data and tinker with SEO, you might prefer to do that here.

Order and calm

Our goal for the two creative categories is that they’re orderly, calm places.

The type of files and projects that go there are often littered throughout your entire system. And so much time is wasted clicking around trying to find them.

“When did I last use the logo?” “Is this the hi-res version?” “Where’s the final PDF of the new menu design?”

We need to get out of the habit of having 50 copies of our important creative assets, with different names, in multiple locations.

And into the habit of having a neat set of folders containing one original copy of everything.

As well as a separate place to manage new projects that doesn’t clutter where we do our daily work.

We discuss this in more detail in the creative areas.