Why Cloud Storage is the Future of Digital Design… and an Introduction to Our Favorite Cloud Storage and Sync Tools

In some fields, changes happens slowly over time. Digital design is not one of those fields. Digital tools are constantly changing and evolving, which means if your team is going to remain competitive, you need to be on the cutting edge of digital design tech at all times. At this point in the game, many media, advertising, and other creative teams have already taken their digital work to the cloud. If you haven’t, made the switch to cloud storage, there’s no better time than now.

In this article, we’ll go over the top 5 reasons why your creative team needs to sync files to the cloud, including:

• You need access to your files from more than one location
• File sizes are only going to get bigger
• Constantly running out of space on your device isn’t good for anyone
• It never hurts to have a backup and recovery plan
• Improved version control

Digital designers use tools on a variety of devices, which makes the ability to sync files between devices essential.

1. Location(s), Location(s), Location(s).

Digital designers today have a variety of incredible digital tools at their disposal. Whether you prefer working on laptops, desktops, tablets, or even phones, there are a variety of design tools that allow you work on creative projects from any device you choose. Many designers even use different devices throughout the creative process– perhaps starting out with a rough design on a mobile device before switching to a desktop or laptop computer to fine-tune the design.

Cloud syncing is the easiest, fastest, and most convenient way to share your files between different devices. Gone are the days of trying to compress and email files to yourself– syncing to the cloud streamlines your creative workflows and makes it easier than ever to include as many or as few of your favorite tools and devices in your process as you choose.

2. Design files are getting bigger, and they aren’t going to stop growing anytime soon.

Back in the day, we had a very different idea of what it meant for a file to be “big”– anything pushing the 100-200MB mark was getting pretty large and unwieldy. Today, designers are easily creating files that are 30GB or larger, and many projects require dozens if not hundreds of graphic images over their duration.

Cloud syncing and storage tools have virtually infinite storage capacity, which means you don’t have to worry about size limitations due to the underlying disk array on your computer. And even better, many cloud storage platforms allow you to choose how much storage you need to support your creative work, which means you’re paying for the space that you need– and none of the space that you don’t.

Don’t let file storage get you down– transfer your creative team’s files to the cloud today.

3. You don’t want to bog down your device with local file storage.

Nothing’s quite as exciting as starting a new creative project. It has so much potential, and you and your team are ready to dive right into the design process, but wait– do you have enough room on your device to get started? If you’re constantly asking IT to expand your device’s file servers to make room for bulky photo edits and vector files or you’re constantly purging old files from your device to make room for more, it may be time to consider syncing up with the cloud.

When you switch to a cloud storage system, this problem virtually disappears. As we mentioned before, many platforms give you scalable cloud storage, which means if you need more space, you’ve got it. No fuss.

4. Syncing to the cloud gives you a built in backup plan.

Anybody who has ever worked on a digital design project knows that, while the finished product may look streamlined and simple, it takes a whole lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get the project to that point. What would you do if you walked into work one morning only to find that your computer had crashed? Without syncing your files to the cloud, the answer is simple– you’d be starting over on a lot of designs.

Most cloud storage platforms create multiple copies of your data in separate physical server facilities just in case something goes wrong. Whenever you make a change to a file and sync it to the cloud, it is automatically backed up to all of those locations. The result? Total security. Losing files when your device crashes is a thing of the past.

5. Cloud syncing makes it easy to reference older versions.

Every digital designer has that one monster folder lurking somewhere on their hard drive. It’s huge, it’s unorganized, and it’s named, simply, “OLD”. It’s important for your creative team to have access to old designs for future reference– whether it’s later on in the same project or even during a different project down the road. But this takes up a crazy amount of space on your local device or server.

Once again, syncing to the cloud is a better solution. Many platforms save old versions of files automatically, which makes it easy for you to go back through and access them later if necessary.

Using the cloud to sync files across devices is an important strategy for any creative team.

Digital design is a field that’s constantly evolving, and if your creative team is going to keep up, you need to stay up-to-date on the latest and best design tools. Syncing your work to the cloud today sets your digital design team up for success tomorrow.

All opinions are my own. Dropbox is not affiliated with nor endorses any other products or services mentioned.

Read More at 4 Reasons Your Creative Team Needs to Sync Files to the Cloud