Graphic Designer Resume: Downloadable Templates, Examples & Tips

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As a Graphic Designer, you normally don’t have any problem showing your creative side, but can you draw up a resume that captivates a hiring manager? Our resume templates can help you develop the perfect resume and stand out from the rest of the group.

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Recently, the graphic design industry has grown massively. 

It is predicted that between 2020 and 2030, the employment of graphic designers will increase by 3%. Interestingly, this percentage growth is slower than in other occupations, which brings us to the question, how can you stand out among the rest?

You may know how to work with images and text, mix them, change the layout, and increase or decrease their size. However, the industry is filled with creative minds who produce unique ideas. 

Although it’s a great start to send your potential employer to your awesome portfolio, you’ll need more than that to stick out from the crowd. If you haven’t created a portfolio yet, we have comprehensive guides on how to do so on our professional portfolio’s page. 

To truly create a resume that will catch your employer’s eye, you need a few things. Let’s learn how to write a resume to help you get picked from the vast and versatile candidate crowd!

Paying attention to certain aspects of your graphic designer resume may boost your chances with the recruiters. Some good tactics you can use are active language, previous experience, and emphasizing metrics, among others. 

A clear and presentable freelance graphic designer resume will mirror your work on how you deal with your design projects. 

When preparing your resume, paying attention to even the slightest details is important. You can start with using resume templates and then adding your touch to them. But don’t forget to pay attention to format, content, and structure. 

Take a look at the following example of a graphic designer resume.

Resume Example

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[Joe Crimson]

[Graphic Designer]

[508 Bush St Morgan City, Louisiana(LA), 70380 | 559-178-6977 | joe.crimson@gmail.com]

>> Summary <<
Efficient, creative, and hard-working graphic designer with years of invaluable hands-on experience. Possesses skills gained in the creative industry and is capable of simultaneously handling design projects, animation, visual conceptualization, and concept creation. Quick at grasping the larger picture.

>> Work Experience <<
Blue Media
Graphic Designer
May 2018–Present
* Created concepts, designs, and sample layouts.

• Produced e-commerce and non-e-commerce creative website layouts and content for clients.
• Developed layouts and graphics for product illustration, websites, and logos corresponding to company brand style.
• Prepared rough sketches and illustrations, presented and discussed them with clients, and made necessary changes.

>> Education <<
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design | Grand Valley State University
June 2017
GPA: 3.8

>> Portfolio <<
Web Design – Redesigned the website for racingcars.com, elevated the brand, and created an easy user experience.

Cookbook design – Created a clean and engaging design layout for “Chef Mark’s Delicacies”.

>> Skills <<
* Photoshop, Illustrator, Indesign

• Color theory
• Typography
• Media Production
• Infographics design

>> Certifications <<
* Adobe Illustrator

• Adobe Photoshop

• Hobbies and Interests
• Painting
• Running
• Basketball

Being a graphic designer is all about presenting great, aesthetically pleasing content. So you need to choose a good resume format for a graphic designer that will showcase your impeccable professional background and overall skillfulness.

When creating your resume, remember that potential employers don’t have time, nor will, to spend reading long and monotonous resumes. Each candidate will only get 7 seconds of the recruiter’s time. After that, it’s either the “denied” pile or the “wow” pile. 

Provided with an endless choice of resume formats, you might be tempted to go with a fancy design, thinking that you’ll simply pop out of the crowd. Wrong!

Companies are quite strict when it comes to the format of the resume. 

Choosing the proper resume to present your work is crucial if you wish to land the job of your dreams. The business world accepts three graphic designer resume formats:

• Reverse-chronological resume
• Functional resume
• Combination resume.

Which Resume Format to Pick?

Formats make resumes look well-structured and organized. The reverse-chronological resume format is an excellent way to make any candidate look good. The key here is to present the work experience in a reverse chronological order starting from the most recent to the oldest work experience. 

The reverse-chronological resume format is the most popular of the three and acceptable by the majority, if not all, recruiters. It makes their job easier because they know where to look for the information they need on the candidate. It’s an ideal format for candidates with extensive work experience and is suitable for scanning through an applicant tracking system software. 

The functional resume showcases your skills over your professional experience. It might be a preferable option for those that have less working background, are transferring to a new industry, or wish to emphasize their skills.

The name combination resume implies that it focuses on both work experience and skills – a combination of the previous two formats. This type of resume format may be used by candidates who like to showcase their exceptional skills while at the same time presenting their extensive work experience in several industries. 

Having a well-structured resume doesn’t mean just choosing the format but also how you present the content and the overall layout. Other decisive factors are the professional font, line spacing, margins, and resume length.

Don’t go overboard and pack your graphic designer resume with information that will not interest the recruiters. It’s a resume, not a novel! Instead, use punchy and powerful action words, they’ll be sure to grab your reader’s attention. 

Providing a short, clear, and precise overview of your skills and experience is crucial. The designer in you might be screaming to get creative, but you need to know where to stop – focus on the content, not some flashy images and fancy designs.

To have a better understanding of what your resume format should contain, let’s consider each resume section in more detail. 

A good resume is substance over form. Applicant tracking systems and recruiters pick up on content you should concentrate on. Making a well-structured graphic designer resume summary or objective is probably the most demanding part of the resume. 

Choosing one over the other is made based on whether you have plenty or no work experience. It’s one of the key elements in creating an impressive graphic designer resume, but if you don’t feel confident about making it from scratch, turn to professional resume builders to assist and guide you. 

A graphic designer resume objective is ideal for a graphic designer student resume applying for entry-level positions. Use this section to convince the recruiter you are the right candidate for your job. This is not the section where you should be modest. Present your aspirations and goals and present yourself in the best light.

Don’t be discouraged by the lack of experience – you’re not applying for a Creative Directors’ role…If you are, we have guides on that too! 

Recruiters sometimes seek candidates with little to no experience just because they can help mold them to their requirements. Use the resume objective to your advantage. 

Show the recruiter you are open to learning and advancing your knowledge. The most important thing is to focus on how you can contribute to the company, not the other way around. 

For those candidates with sufficient experience in the field preparing a senior graphic designer resume, a graphic designer resume summary is an excellent choice. Don’t hold back and use the section to put the focus on your career progress and your skills. 

Objectives and summaries should be three to five lines, which is enough to spike the interest of the recruiters and get them to want to read more. Be precise and short, and make good use of the spotlight on yourself. It all comes down to presentation!

Graphic Designer Resume Summary Example

Start by carefully reading the employer’s requirements for the job and creating a way to mirror your key skills in the summary. Remember that this is the most important section for recruiters when they are scanning resumes and deciding if they should continue reading. Use the summary to enter the selection scene with a boom!

How to do that? Using generic content is a big negative, showing you are no different than the others. Tell recruiters what you can offer them by wisely using the right keywords to make your resume more appealing to them. Find a unique way to highlight your value as a candidate.

This example is how NOT to write a resume summary:

Instead, consider the following graphic designer resume summary:

Landing a job as a graphic designer is more than just showcasing an extensive professional portfolio. Knowing how to present that experience is the key.

Information dosage is the hidden secret to a well-structured experience section. Recruiters don’t wish to spend time on this part if it has nothing to do with the job position. So, wisely select the experience that recruiters may find relevant and research ways that will help you showcase it. 

Still in the early stage of your career? No worries! Graphic design is not all about experience and knowledge. Talent and a sharp eye can also be decisive factors in a selection process. 

Having an inborn talent for design will not go unnoticed by recruiters. Sometimes recruiters look for candidates to tailor based on the company’s needs. 

Taking into consideration all of this, the following tips will help you understand what you need to include in this section:

• Always use meaningful content and add structure to the resume. Never put irrelevant experiences for the sake of filling blank pages. 
• Present useful information from previous companies. Include information like the name of the company, position held, and contract duration.
• Try to match the requirements from the job description as closely as possible. Use the keywords that will catch their attention.
• Use reverse-chronology order to neatly present your employment history.
• Bullet points are a short and clear presentation of your professional experience. Presenting your accomplishments should be done in brief and precise sentences, never in paragraphs with endless sentences!

Graphic Designer Resume Examples: Experience

The job of a graphic designer requires working in teams and collaborating with colleagues or working closely with clients. Recruiters will be looking for candidates that will easily fit in a dynamic environment and at the same time be open-minded and easy-going.

A solid graphic designer resume example of the experience section may look like this:

Entry-Level Graphic Designer Resume: Experience Section

Are you a recent university graduate or someone who still has no experience? No need to worry! Having no working experience doesn’t mean that you need to deliver an empty experience section. 

A graphic designer beginner resume can include skills and talent. If you are applying for an entry-level position, chances are they won’t be asking about your experience. The good news for those without graphic design experience is that you can always find ways to get some. 

Whether it will be volunteer work or entering graphic design contests, it all counts!

Spread the word among friends for anyone looking for low-priced design work. Join competitions like 99 Design and CreativeAllies or simply choose a freelance option and offer your services to local businesses. 

Still can’t find a way to gain experience? Use your time to create your own work that you can present. Design a website, product packaging, flyers, or whatever is in your scope of interest. If you did some projects during your academic years, use them to help fill this section.

Here is an example of how to do this:

We can agree that nothing beats real work experience where we can learn the secrets of the profession by engaging with it directly. Do you need education in a profession that mainly requires talent and creativity? Yes, you do.

Graphic designers are usually required to have a Bachelor’s Degree in graphic design or a related fine arts field. High school students willing to continue in the graphic design industry will need basic art and design courses. 

To demonstrate their artistic abilities and styles, students may be asked to build a portfolio that includes a collection of their completed works. 

Always have this in mind regardless of what your education level is currently. You can start your career with no degree and work hard and fast to build experience to cover the lack of a diploma. However, with a degree, it’s a fact that you have a better starting position. 

Graphic Designer Resume Education Section

Degree or no degree, either option is acceptable. Whatever your education level is, list all the relevant items about your academic background that will prove you are the right person for the job.

Follow this example of what an education section should look like:

Those still in school, haven’t finished college, or only have a high school education should still fill out this section.

If you’ve finished college, add the degree and the years you studied. If you are still studying, mention that your studies are still ongoing. And remember, you don’t need to mention your high school education if you have higher education.

Creativity, artistic ability, and time management are just a few of the skills that the recruiter will be looking for in the next graphic designer to fill the position in the company. This is not a section where you let your imagination run wild. You must possess every skill you put on the list!

Recall all your soft and hard skills that you can add to this section. They should show your proficiency and, at the same time, be relevant to the job you are applying for.

You might think education and work experience are the key elements of a competitive resume. But you’ll be wrong. A good candidate is not the one who just has a professional and academic background but one that has gone beyond to improve and expand their knowledge. 

Recruiters find the Other section helpful when they have difficulty identifying qualified graphic designers. You want to stand out from the other candidates, not blend in.

This may be the section that the recruiter may find interesting and useful. Show off those awards and certifications you worked hard for!

Those preparing a graphic designer beginner resume and have not received any certifications yet, use this section to include working on school projects, volunteer work, hobbies, interests, or any languages you speak. A relevant skill mentioned in your Other section may score points with the recruiters and put you forward as their favorite.

Graphic Designer Resume Sample “Other” Sections

The information you will include in this section should put the spotlight on your best features. You need to show the recruiters that you are the best candidate and can do this job. Add publications, certificates, awards, clubs you belong to, etc.

Here is an example of how this section should be presented:

Entering a fast-pacing industry like graphic design requires candidates to be up to date with all the trends. Being informed and expanding your knowledge may land you a job, but having a well-prepared graphic design resume might push things along faster. 

Following our guide on building a well-structured and competitive graphic design resume will have you ranking high with the recruiters. Before submitting your resume for the next job opening, we are offering a quick checklist to make sure your resume includes everything of relevance.

Here is a quick recap of what you need to pay attention to:

• Right formatting of your graphic designer resume is important. Use the recommended reversed-chronology resume format and carefully chosen professional font;
• Used a well-phrased resume objective or summary to put the spotlight on you and catch the attention of the recruiter;
• Used the experience section and highlighted your achievements more than your responsibilities;
• Used catchy and strong keywords that both a recruiter and an Applicant Tracking Systems can catch;
• Tailored the skills section to the requirements in the job description. Make sure the skills you included are skills you actually possess! Recruiters will know if you’re lying;
• Use the Other section to turn attention to you as a person. Show you have interests outside of your professional and academic life. Add certifications you possess or highlight selected talents and skills that accentuate your strengths;
• Tailored every bullet point to fit the job description requirements. No need for excessive information because this is a sure way to put your resume in the “denied” pile.

 We wish you all the luck and success in becoming the next greatest graphic designer!