Colorful Icons on my External Drive
Creative Way to Spice up your drive
In the last few days I have been decluttering my 2TB external hard drive. I never really organized it before and I just threw files on the drive whenever I wanted to store them.
The intention was to create a more manageable file structure, and to organize things in such a way that the information could be easily located - rather than having to rely on searching to find it.
Then once I created the folders, I decided to give the listing a little more color by adding a few icons to the folders. Here is what the current layout of the drive looks like:
Icons Icons Icons
My method of creating all the icons was by using Image2Icon. Some of the icons are based on emojis, and others are based on old images that I had in my folders.
The icons created for Archive, Backup Day, Media Monday, Movies, New Movies, Old Photos & Old Projects are all made with Microsoft Image Creator powered by DALL-E. I simply typed in the prompt and then selected the image I thought best matched the contents of the folder.
DALL-E can generate 4 images at a time in response to a prompt - so I had some good ideas to pick from.
Sample Prompts:
- Old Projects as cartoon
- Old Photos as a cartoon
- Media Monday as a cartoon
- Backup of data files as a cartoon
Simple Numbers as Icons
Some of the folders have years on them as well, so it is easier to find the year that I am looking for. As you can see in the image above, the year is much easier to see than the folder name.
Did You Know:The first form of document management was the filing cabinet, invented by Edwin Grenville Seibels in 1898. Seibels' invention, the vertical file system, revolutionized record keeping by creating an easily understandable system that could organize and store files.
In Conclusion
By using the create image icons, I am able to brighten up the drive. Instead of seeing borning blue icons, I can now see something useful.
As a result of using the custom icons, I am able to quickly view the main folder and navigate my way to the correct location.
This is like putting a sign on the side of a highway: instead of confusing drivers with blank white space, they are able to quickly see the sign and get to their destination without any confusion.