133/reorganizing my Figma files

My Figma workspace has been kind of a huge mess, tons of files that have been left untouched for months, copies ad duplicates i have no idea why i created (2021 me was going through something; i made a copy for every iteration of a project so there were 9 files for the same project, each not that different from the previous one), community files that are no use for me now, you name it.

Something in me snapped when i saw 274 files one fine Thursday (last week) and i decided to face my demons and sort them. Here was the plan.

1. Keep one file per project, sort the iterations and systems and assets by pages
2. Have one huge master file with the go-to design system template I’ve painstakingly curated to then bring into a new file and modify with each project, assets, components, variants, reference images i go back to often for inspiration, previous interesting designs, guidelines, portfolio website breakdowns to study and recreate, special effects (like glass effect cards), typography and favorites.
3. A visuals file that has all he posters, visual experiments, and illustrations
4. Recent community resource files that will get assimilated in my work and will eventually bid goodbye

It took me a while to go through all my work and it was a nice trip down the memory lane. i cringed a little a my old designs (but I’m told that means I’m growing as a designer so it’s okay small price to pay for it), how my systems and ways of designing, organizing, iterating have changed over the past few months. There are files that do not have auto layout and I’m never going to dare and touch them. So many unnamed layers, it all brought a tear to my eye (yes, this is sarcastic but honesty, it was really fun doing this, call me a nerd i guess 😂)

i have less than 20 files in my drafts now (a relief), my stuff is organized and it’s better for my productivity and how i approach a project. I’ve still kept the old files to some of my very first designs, archived and unpublished in my portfolio but always a key stepping stone to where i am now. It’s like they say, you have to be ready to be bad at something to have a shot at being really great at it.