Every designer has a specific way they go about creating a website; this is called their workflow. While you may think you have your workflow optimized for the best performance and results, you might be missing a few things that will end up saving you time and lots of frustration. Here are 4 steps that you can use to increase your workflow efficiency.
1. Standardize Your Filing System
File every project the same way. The best way to do this (I think) is to create a work folder at the root of you hard drive, then in that create 12 folders for ever month. Whenever you get a job, create a folder with that job’s title in the corresponding month. This way you end up with a nice, organized folder full of all the work you’ve done for that year. You can quickly look back to your previous projects if a client wants a change, or you need to grab something for reference. Here’s another tip: when naming your folders after the month, add XX at the beginning of the folder name so they appear in chronological order; i.e. 01 January.
2. Keep A Global Resource Folder
I find myself reusing a lot of my work, be it icons, buttons, layer styles, etc. It’s extremely frustrating to try and remember what project I created that one button for, and then have to go try and find it. To solve this problem, I created a global resource folder.
This folder contains all the icons I have ever made, button designs, layer styles, everything I think I can reuse, I stick in this folder. It’s full of .psd’s. This will help you if you’re ever in a fix, and quickly need that Web 2.0 style badge, or icon set you designed last year.
3. Employ The Use Of Font Management Programs
If you’re the average designer, you have way too many fonts. It can be extremely slow and frustrating to look through them all in Photoshop, so having a font program dedicated to organizing your fonts is a great idea. You can use these programs to search by font type (Serif, Sans Serif, etc.), name, and a bevy of other criteria. Here are several.
4. Healthy Habits
There is no better service you can do yourself than to stay in shape, and live healthy. Eating right is only a small part of this, healthy is a lifestyle. Get ample sleep, and while you are working, take frequent breaks, even if it’s just to walk around. Drink lots of water (8 glasses) a day, and eating healthy snacks (fresh fruit, vegetables, etc.) is a good way to keep you energized throughout the day.
These are just 4 ways that you can use to create a better design workflow. There are many more, and I’d love to hear what you do, so let me know in the comments of any tips or recommendations you have for creating a better design workflow.
