File storage or “Did you work on this?”

Every now and then I’m asked; “Did you work on this?”

Each time, I’m reminded that the extra bit of effort required to number, name and file a job properly is worth it for those occasions when I’ll need to retrieve it.

Recently, I was asked this question about a project that had lots of iterations over the years… including a company name change. I didn’t have the job number, but I did know the client and the project name.

With a quick bit of digging, I found all the artwork files in the cloud and on archived DVDs. Turns out they were from 2012, 2014 and 2015.

I’ve been working with this client for 14 years and most, if not all, the staff have moved on. I was delighted that my archive provided a kind of outsourced ‘institutional knowledge’ storage system.

With staff turnover and different filing systems, sometimes clients will ask me to source a logo or photo they’re having trouble locating in-house. Or sometimes a project is being reprinted or updated.

Whatever the reason, my job number, client code, description/keyword and date filing system hasn’t let me down yet!