Keeping client files on hand to avoid going nuts!

Thursday’s Management Tip for Successful Graphic Designers

Sometimes being a graphic designer can be a little time consuming, especially when creating new jobs for old clients.

I don’t know about you, but I was constantly looking for information to do some of my design jobs. After all, it’s hard to keep track of info on each client: fonts, colors, graphics, etc… Sometimes when I’d get repeat jobs, it would be like starting over looking for the information I needed to get the job done.

Well, I started doing something that has saved a me a ton of time. And it’s very simple. I’ve started to keep a one page file on each of my clients.

Information you need to have on hand on each client:

1. Name
2. Company name
3. Name of contact(s)
4. Address
5. Contact numbers (telephone, cell / mobile, …)
6. E-mails
7. Websites
8. Blogs
9. Logo
10. Fonts
11. Colors (CMYK, RGB, Hex values)
12. Pictures that they own the rights to
13. Visual identity guidelines
14. Usernames / passwords (For websites, blogs, FTP, access to a database)

T A K E A W A Y S :

Taking a few minutes to set up a file on each of your client can save you a ton of time in the long run! And also ensures that you don’t make critical branding mistakes (like chosing the wrong colors).

But ultimately, it gives you more time to do what you love doing: designing!

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