Here at Waves, we know digital asset management is one of the more difficult things for any of our brands to manage. And when it comes to tools available to aid in this, there are so many options.
It can be confusing. But before you use any tools or platforms, a good overall game plan for asset management can be really helpful.
Here are some tips from over 15 years of managing files large and small in our video and media company at Waves.
Managing assets you are working on
When working on projects, staying organized from the get-go will avoid many headaches and file searches in the future. Properly organizing and managing projects and assets also helps increase efficiency which means saving time looking for assets later on.
One lesson we have learned here at Waves, is there can never be enough folders to organize our work.
From project files to logos, everything has a designated name and place (most of this happens on Dropbox for us). Good organization that everyone knows on your team provides a user-friendly, understandable, and replicable structure. Our goal is that any team member be able to jump into a project (or create one) and be able to find/know/place where every asset is/or should be located. This avoids emailing back and forth or sharing files because a team member can’t find them.
What’s your process for project management while working on them?
Archiving assets
Archiving is different than backing up in that archiving is storing the finalized versions of projects and digital assets on long-term storage, and on multiple drives. However, both are important, and knowing where your final projects end up is key for future retrieval.
Having a reliable archiving system with substantial storage is paramount for ensuring that assets are safely stored. For instance, brands like SanDisk G-Raid are one of the most popular in archival storage. But you can use cheaper solution hard drives paired with software like Carbon Copy Cloner to assure the archival is complete
Naming assets and putting them in designated named folders and subfolders is an important step before archiving them for long-term storage. A handy tool for this is using column view (on mac) which helps view all of the assets within a folder with greater ease and for moving assets to different folders.
Services out there
Many products and services exist for backing up and archiving assets. Here are some of the more popular choices among creators:
- Dropbox Business (Different pricing tiers that match your needs) – we use this.
- Brandfolder
- Canto
- Bynder
- Google Drive (we use)
- Carbon Copy Cloner (we use)
Above all, keeping track of files and keeping them organized will aid in your digital asset management.