Someone in sales needs the logo on a dark background, in ten minutes, for a partner. It's the third time this month they've asked you, and last time they found one in an old email, slightly blurry, in the colors from before the rebrand.
You don't have a design problem. You have a retrieval problem. This page sticks to storage and finding things: which kind of tool to use, what to keep, how to name it and how to stop using a photo after its licence ends. For guidelines, templates and approvals, see the brand management guide.
DAM, shared folder or brand kit?
Pick by volume and by who needs the files. Most teams under 30 people should start with a shared folder or a brand kit, and move to a DAM when a specific problem forces them to.
| What matters | Shared folder | Brand kit | DAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good for | Working files and small libraries | The approved essentials, for anyone to grab | Large libraries, many teams, licensed content |
| Finding files | File names and folder paths, so naming is everything | Fixed tabs for logos, colors, fonts | Search, with metadata and often AI tagging |
| Sharing outside | Folder links, which are easy to leave open | A read-only page | Controlled links and permissions |
| Rights and expiry | A separate spreadsheet you maintain | Usually none | Often built in, and worth checking per plan |
| Who runs it | Whoever cares, until they leave | One owner, an hour a month | Part of someone's job |
| Cost | Often already paid for | Often included in a wider tool | Usually a sales quote |
A common pattern works well: keep working files in a shared folder and put the approved finals in a brand kit, so that the kit becomes the only link you ever send.
The checklist of assets to keep
Collect these once. If you don't have an item, either make it or decide you don't need it. Delete everything else from the shared area, or move it into an archive folder that isn't searched by default.
Logo
- Primary, secondary, icon and wordmark, in SVG plus PNG with a transparent background
- Versions for light and dark backgrounds, plus single-color
- A square version for social profiles and app stores, and a favicon
Visual system
- Color values in hex, plus RGB and CMYK if you print
- Font files or links, with the licence saved beside them
- Icons, illustration sets and background patterns
People and product
- Team headshots, and the founder bio photo journalists ask for
- Current product screenshots, dated, because these go stale fastest
- Office, event and customer photos, with permission recorded
Ready-made files
- Master slide deck, one-pager and email signature
- Press kit, as one downloadable bundle
- Letterhead and invoice header
A naming convention you can copy
Good names let search do the work, even in the plainest folder. Use the same order every time, all lowercase, separated by hyphens: company, asset type, variant, color, background, then version or date.
| File | What it tells you | Don't call it |
|---|---|---|
| acme-logo-primary-fullcolor-onlight-v3.svg | Main logo, full color, for light backgrounds, third version | logo_final_NEW.svg |
| acme-logo-icon-white-ondark-v3.png | Icon only, white, for dark backgrounds | white logo (2).png |
| acme-deck-sales-master-2026-11.pptx | The master sales deck, November 2026 | Sales deck USE THIS ONE.pptx |
| acme-screenshot-dashboard-2026-10.png | Product shot, dated so you can spot old ones | Screenshot 2026-10-14 at 09.12.png |
| acme-photo-founder-jane-licensed-to-2027-06.jpg | Founder photo, licence end in the file name | IMG_4471.jpg |
Two rules keep it honest. There is only ever one current version in the shared area, with old ones moved to an archive folder. And versions go in the name for logos, which rarely change, while dates go in the name for anything that goes stale, such as decks and screenshots.
Rights and expiry: what gets companies in trouble
A logo is yours. A stock photo, a font or a customer's photo usually isn't, and the terms that came with it are easy to lose. Keep a small register with one row per licensed asset. The columns matter more than the tool.
| Asset | Source | Licence and scope | Ends | Owner | When it ends |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Campaign hero photo | Paid stock library | Web and paid social only, in the terms you bought | June 2027 | Marketing | Replace on site and in ads |
| Brand typeface | Foundry | Web and desktop, seat count in the licence | None | Design | Buy more seats before adding people |
| Customer photo | Customer, at an event | Written permission for the website | On request | Marketing | Remove within a set number of days |
| Customer logo | Customer | Permission email on file | End of contract | Sales | Take off the logo wall |
| Free-to-use photo | Unsplash | Unsplash licence, saved as a copy | None | Marketing | Check the licence if the use changes |
Don't assume that no-cost means no conditions. The Unsplash licence allows commercial use with no permission needed, but you can't sell images without significant modification or use them to build a competing service. Save a copy of each licence with the asset, because terms and sites can change. A lawyer should review anything that matters, such as a photo of an identifiable person in paid ads.
Brand asset management software: what the options list
This comes from vendor pages read as of November 2026, and it's based on published information, not on a hands-on test. Dedicated DAMs generally don't publish prices.
| Tool | Type | Published price | Finding and control | Rights and expiry |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace shared drives | Shared folder | Varies by region and edition. We read rupee pricing only, so check your own | Your organization owns files, so they stay when someone leaves | None listed. Keep a register |
| Dropbox Standard | Shared folder | $15 a user a month, starts at 3 TB for the team | 180-day version history | None listed in what we read. Keep a register |
| Frontify | Brand platform with DAM | Not published | Search by image, keyword or natural language, with AI tagging and permissions | Alerts when usage licences are about to expire |
| Brandfolder by Smartsheet | DAM | Not published | Bulk asset management, OCR search and analytics on Premium | Automatic publish and expiration dates on Premium |
| Bynder | DAM | Not published, custom package | AI search and metadata enrichment in modules | Rights management in all packages. Asset expiry isn't mentioned on the pricing page |
| Nautis Brand Kit | Brand kit | Part of the workspace, from $49 a month | Tabs by asset type, with type, category and usage notes | Share links can expire. The guide lists no licence dates for assets |
The shared drive point deserves attention. Google's shared drive documentation says the organization owns those files, and they remain after someone's account is deleted. Personal drives are how companies lose their only copy of the logo when a designer leaves, so move assets out of them this week.
Is the Nautis Brand Kit a DAM?
No. The Brand Kit is a structured reference for your core identity, and it fits the "brand kit" column above. It works well for the question that opened this page, and it isn't built for a library of thousands of campaign files.
It does these things. Logos stores files by Logo Type, such as Primary, Icon or Monochrome, with minimum size, background color and usage notes, and your team can download them. Colors shows swatches with hex codes to copy. Fonts holds a file or a font URL. Imagery sorts images by Image Type and Category. Share Brand Kit creates a read-only public page with an optional expiration date, and Analytics shows Top Downloads and who viewed or downloaded what.
The guide doesn't describe version history for assets, full-text or AI search across files, custom metadata, or licence expiry tracking. A deleted asset is gone, with no undo, and files count against your organization's storage quota. Keep source design files, and a rights register, somewhere else. If those gaps are your actual problem, use a DAM.
Nautis starts at $49 a month as of November 2026, and that plan buys the wider business workspace, so don't buy it for this alone. If you're already using it, set up a brand kit in an afternoon and send the share link next time someone asks.
One afternoon to fix it
You can do this today without buying anything. Block three hours, starting with the assets people ask for most.
- Search your email and chat for "logo" and list what people have been asking for. That is your priority list.
- Gather the current files, and ask your designer to confirm which ones are final.
- Rename them using the convention above, and file everything else in an archive folder.
- Move the set out of personal drives and into a shared drive or a brand kit.
- Add a rights register for anything you didn't create yourself.
- Pin one link in your team chat and your onboarding doc, and answer the next request with that link.
Consider a DAM when you hold thousands of assets, when several teams or agencies upload regularly, or when an expired licence would cost you real money. Until then, the folder and the register will serve you well.
FAQ
What is brand asset management software?
It's software for storing and finding brand files such as logos, images, fonts and templates, so people use the current version. It ranges from a well-named shared folder to a full digital asset management platform. Bigger tools add search, permissions, and tracking of licence expiry.
What's the difference between a DAM and a shared drive?
A shared drive stores files in folders, and you find them by name and path. A DAM adds metadata, search, permissions and often rights tracking, and it's built for large libraries. Small teams rarely need the extra layer if their naming is disciplined.
Is the Nautis Brand Kit a digital asset management system?
No. It's a brand kit that keeps logos, colors, fonts, typography, guidelines, imagery, voice and letterhead together, with read-only share links and analytics. Its guide doesn't describe asset version history, AI search or licence tracking, so large libraries belong in a DAM.
How should I name brand asset files?
Use one fixed order in lowercase with hyphens: company, asset type, variant, color, background, then a version or date. An example is acme-logo-primary-fullcolor-onlight-v3.svg. Keep only one current version in the shared area, and archive the rest.
How do I track image licence expiry without a DAM?
Keep a rights register with the asset, source, licence scope, end date, owner and what to do when it ends. Put the end date in the file name for time-limited assets too, and add a calendar reminder a month ahead. Save a copy of each licence with the file.