Design Project Kickoff: How to Stage Logos, Fonts and Briefs

At the start of a design project, put everything the team will reuse into one kit folder: logo files, licensed fonts, the project brief and a text file of brand colours. Install the fonts properly, snap the folder beside your design app, and drag or copy from it as you work. Don't use clipboard history as the kit: it doesn't store files, and unpinned items disappear when the PC restarts.

What goes where at kickoff

Clipboard history keeps up to 25 items in text, HTML and image formats, up to 4 MB each. Files, including fonts and PDFs, aren't stored.

Step 1: create the kit folder

Make one folder per project, for example Clients\Acme\2026-rebrand\kit\, with:

• logo\ for the master SVG files and any PNG exports you need,
• type\ for the font files you're licensed to use and the licence itself,
• the project brief, or a text file with its link,
• tokens.txt for colours and type sizes,
• links.txt for the design file, prototype and shared drive links.

Extract any zip file the client sends into this folder once, then archive the zip, so nobody opens an old version by mistake. Name files plainly, such as acme-mark-color.svg, not logo-final-v3.png.

Step 2: install fonts properly

Copying a font file doesn't make it available to your apps; it has to be installed.

1. Select the font files in kit\type\.
2. Open Settings > Personalization > Fonts and drag them onto Drag and drop to install, or right-click each file and select Install (on Windows 11 it may be under Show more options).
3. Check the font appears in your design app.

In Figma, the desktop app already includes the font helper that reads locally installed fonts. If you use Figma in a browser, you need to install Figma's font installer first, then reload open files.

Install only the weights and styles the licence covers. How to keep font files with the specimen image shows how to keep each font next to a visual reference.

Step 3: put brand colours in a text file

Type or paste every hex value (and RGB, CMYK or Pantone references if the brand uses them) into tokens.txt. Text can be copied and pasted exactly; a screenshot of a brand guide's colour page can't. If you only have an image of the colours, how to grab a color hex and keep it explains how to sample them, and hex lists or swatches compares ways to store a palette.

Step 4: put the kit beside your work

Snap the kit folder next to your design app (press Win+Z and pick a layout), then drag files straight in. How to move files between apps without Alt-Tabbing covers the layout and the taskbar drag trick.

Step 5: agree how assets move between apps

Write these down once, so everyone moves assets the same way:

• Vectors between design tools: Figma recommends SVG for moving assets between tools. In Figma, right-click the object, choose Copy/Paste as > Copy as SVG, and paste into the other tool.
• Images into Figma: drag the file onto the canvas.
• Into Photoshop: drag the file into the canvas or use File > Place Embedded; placed files become Smart Objects, which scale without losing quality.
• Chat: don't reuse logos from Slack or Teams as masters. Chat apps can compress images; always go back to kit\logo\. How to stop chat apps compressing your deck images explains why.

What to keep off the clipboard

• Client logins, CMS passwords and API keys. Use a password manager's autofill.
• Contracts and statements of work.
• Unreleased client screens, unless you're actively pasting them into the project file.

Clipboard history is visible to anyone who uses your Windows account and may be shown on screen during a call. Keep it for short-term copies.

Use pins sparingly in week one

Pinning the project brief link and the main hex values in Win+V can save time during the first week, as long as they aren't confidential. Unpin them once the team knows where the kit is, and remove any old values if the brand changes mid-project. How to clean up pinned clipboard items covers that review.

When the project ships, run the end-of-project wipe checklist to clear client material from your clipboard and staging folders. The kit folder stays in your archive.

If you use Edge Drop

Edge Drop can hold this week's logo files and exports on a shelf at the edge of the screen. Files are kept as references to the originals in your kit folder, so the folder stays the master copy, and you can drag them straight into Figma or Photoshop. You can also group related files into a stack of up to 10, such as all variants of one logo. How to merge and split stacks in Edge Drop shows how.

FAQ

Why won't my client's font show up in Figma?

If you use Figma in a browser, install Figma's font installer and reload the file. If you use the desktop app, check that the font is installed in Windows, not just copied into a folder.

Should I keep the client's zip file?

Keep it in your archive, but work from the extracted kit folder so everyone uses the same files.

Can I pin a logo in Win+V?

You can pin a copied logo image under 4 MB, but it's a picture, not the master file. Keep the SVG in kit\logo\ and drag from there.

Related reading

• End-of-Project Clipboard Wipe: A Checklist for Client Work
• How to Keep Brand Assets on a Shelf Instead of the Desktop
• How to Hand Off Font Files, Licenses, and Specimens
• Hex List or Swatches? How to Store a Color Palette

Sources

• Using the clipboard (Microsoft Support) — clipboard history formats, 25-item and 4 MB limits, restart behaviour.
• Missing font alert in Figma Design (Figma Help) — the desktop app includes the font helper; browsers need the font installer.
• Copy assets between design tools (Figma Help) — SVG recommendation and Copy as SVG.
• Add images and videos to designs (Figma Help) — dragging image files onto the canvas.
• Add a picture as a layer (Adobe Photoshop) — dragging into the canvas, Place Embedded and Smart Objects.

Copy. Stack. Drop.

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How to Install Guide · First 10 Minutes Guide · Drag & Drop Guide · Edge Drop vs Win+V · Support