No two creatives are alike. Even if they have the same role or are collaborating on a project, each has their own process to transform an idea into a finished product.
We chatted with a musician, a creative director, and a photographer to find out how Dropbox plays a critical role in bringing their ideas to life.
Miguel Soltero: Songwriter, producer, and engineer at Chromatic 12
As a freelance music collaborator who works in multiple genres, Miguel never knows what his day will look like. He often takes on the role of songwriter, recording engineer, mixer, and even vocal coach in his journey to produce the perfect song, voice-over, or audio project. And with the rise in remote work over the past few years, he finds Dropbox to be the most efficient way to store and send large audio files in an instant.
“You’ll find Pro Tools sessions, scratch tracks, WAV files, MP3s, and just about every kind of audio file imaginable in my Dropbox,” Miguel said. “And with the platform’s direct mark-up features and the ability to add time-based comments, it takes the guesswork out of trying to figure out what my clients and collaborators are communicating throughout the creative process.”
Every project starts with Miguel sending out a Dropbox link so his clients can share their working files and recording sessions.
“They’ll start a session and record something in their space from anywhere in the world, post it to Dropbox, and then I can listen to it almost immediately in my studio,” he said. “And within that same session, I can add my edits and engineering work and end up with a professionally mixed recording in almost real time.”
The ease of sharing files online is crucial to Miguel’s creative process. “Just being able to instantly have files sync up and in the client's possession within seconds is amazing for me,” he said.
Since Miguel is highly organized by nature, he sees Dropbox as the perfect tool to elevate his projects to studio quality, both quickly and efficiently. The music-making process ends up feeling cohesive and seamless, even when all parties can’t be in the studio together.
As a creative director, both full time and freelance, David works with multiple clients on a wide range of creative requests. From pitching new work to designing product packaging, logos, and other deliverables for a range of CPG brands, he keeps clients happy by maintaining a consistent, organized file structure in Dropbox.
When a new project kicks off, David turns to Dropbox Sign to get important contracts signed quickly and securely. He never wastes time creating new documents since Dropbox lets him keep templates of all his standard forms in the same place.
“I can just pop into the folder for that type of document, add in a new email address, and send it out for signature—it’s out the door in seconds,” he said.
After the contract is signed, David uses Dropbox Paper as a project management tool to build timelines and create task lists. He stresses that it’s much more than just a word document. In fact, it’s his go-to method for ensuring that all parties are on the same page with scheduling and deliverables.
Once David’s ready for a client to review his work, he sends his files via a link from Dropbox. That way, every stakeholder can add comments directly to the received file.
“With all feedback in the same document, I don’t have to dig through conversations, emails, or other things clients have sent back and forth—it’s all in one place,” he said.
When sending files to multiple parties, David trusts Dropbox Transfer to keep his projects moving.
“It’s reassuring to see who’s viewed something, who’s signed off on it, that everyone received the right files, and that they’re easily accessible. I can even restrict who has access,” he said.
This added level of security is important for both David and his clients. It gives them the confidence that their work won’t end up in the wrong hands.
From getting eSignatures to delivering files securely and consolidating feedback, David relies on Dropbox to stay organized while juggling multiple projects.
“Whenever I get a new computer, it’s the very first thing I download,” he said.
Josh Edelson: Photographer at Edelson Photography
Professional photography brings Josh to all kinds of settings. Whether he’s covering California wildfires for national newspapers or shooting high-end headshots for major tech companies, Josh is constantly on the move. And when he needs to access or update his archive remotely, he turns to Dropbox.
Josh has been using Dropbox for over a decade—he considers it to be the most efficient way to access, share, and store his files. On some days, he’s transferring photos to news editors while surrounded by flames, while on other days he’s selling archived images from a coffee shop in another country.
“On my phone, I can just search for a keyword, and within 15 seconds, I’ve found the photo I want to reference,” Josh said.
In addition to accessibility, he knows that all his work is backed up in case something happens to his devices.
Josh shares his photography files with collaborators and clients directly via Dropbox. When he hires an editor to assist him, he creates a separate folder that includes just the relevant images.
“Having the option to give my editors and clients a direct download link is really important to me because they immediately have all the files they need,” he said.
With so much time on the road, Josh stores more than just his work files in Dropbox.
“I use it for every single piece of digital data I own—like my tax forms, scanned photos from my childhood, and even my entire music collection,” he said.
He also said that the ability to access photos and personal documents from any place at any time isn’t just essential to how he works—it’s essential to how he lives.
Dropbox makes every creative process work
Each of these creative professionals may have their own way of tackling projects, but they’ve all built Dropbox into their workflows. Whether it’s through real-time collaboration, seamless review cycles, or digital archiving, Dropbox helps them organize and deliver their best work.
