_Final v2
AI Art - ChatGPT
If your desktop is a digital junk drawer overflowing with screenshots named “Screen Shot 2023-11-04 at 2.38.51 PM.png” and PDFs titled “Document(6)_final-FINAL-FINAL.pdf”… we see you. We love you. But we need to talk.
At Lunar Telephone Company, we work across design, engineering, live entertainment, themed attractions, and general creative madness — which means we trade a lot of files. And few things grind our gears faster than receiving something named “image1.jpg” with zero context and no clue when it was made.
Here are our golden rules:
1️⃣ Always START with a reference to the project - that can be a code
🧠 Remember that the order in which you add details to your filename determines the order in which it will sort within your file folder. Use this to your advantage. Perhaps, include the phase of a project after the initial project reference… this forces all files from a specific phase to be together. Maybe you want you always include your “discipline.” Often, ours is “Show Lighting” - abbreviated as “SL” or “SHL”.
📅 Use the date - in reverse order (YYYYMMDD) for things that change often (like show files)
🕒 Optionally, add time for extra clarity (24-hour format is recommended)
📖 Use short but descriptive keywords.
🔢 Version info comes at the end. Leave room for at least 2 digits! (v01)
🚨 Avoid spaces. Use Underscores, more than dashes. Use CamelCase in place of spaces.
‼️ Avoid “illegal characters” - < > : “ / \ | ? *
🎯 Keep it consistent.
A few examples to get you started:
✅ LTC_ArticlesOfIncorporation_v01.pdf
✅ NightGarden2019_MA2ShowFile_20191015_0530_EndOfDay
✅ ABC_SHL_EquipmentBudget_v18.xlsx
✅ XYZ2025_ConceptSketch_20250629_AltB.jpg
Now, compare that to:
❌ sketchNEW.jpg
❌ contract2.pdf
❌ copyofcopyfinalUSETHISONE.pptx
❌ presentation edits DRAFT edit v7_FINALREALLYFINAL.pptx
(If you’re guilty of that last one, please log out and take a walk. We say that with love.)
Some clients or collaborators have more prescriptive rules related to file naming, drawing titles, equipment ID’s, and cable labels. Usually, these include information about Area, Building, Room, Scene, Discipline, and/or Phase - Sometimes there’s clear, “friendly names” and sometimes they’re an alphabet soup of codes and acronyms.
When the ENTIRE team on a large project subscribes to the same naming convention… #chefskiss
Why it matters:
Alphabetical = Chronological. Reverse-dating forces correct sorting even on systems that can’t read metadata or timestamps.
Future You will thank you. You may remember what “v7b” meant today, but in 6 months? Nope.
Shared folders stay sane. When collaborating, clear naming keeps teams aligned without the need to open five versions to find the right one.
Bonus: If you include a date and a few clear keywords, search tools actually become useful. Imagine that.
/rant