For a designer, the portfolio does the heavy lifting, but the resume decides whether someone opens it. A creative director wants to see your specialty, the brands or products you have worked on and the software you use. Keep the layout clean and readable: the software that reads resumes first cannot see your design choices.
Summary
Graphic designer with five years of experience in brand, packaging and digital design for consumer brands. Takes projects from concept to final files and works closely with copywriters and marketers. Strong in Adobe Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop, and uses Figma for digital work. Pays attention to type and detail and hits deadlines. Looking for an in-house role on a brand team.
Work experience
Graphic Designer, Design studio in Portland, OR (2021 - Present)
Design brand identities and packaging for food and beverage clients, from first sketches to print-ready files.
Led the packaging redesign for a snack brand's line of 12 products, now on shelves in regional grocery chains.
Built a shared Figma library for social media templates, cutting production time for recurring posts.
Present concepts directly to clients and handle rounds of feedback.
Junior Graphic Designer, Marketing agency in Seattle, WA (2019 - 2021)
Designed social media graphics, email headers and display ads for retail clients.
Prepared print files for brochures and in-store signage with vendors.
Adapted campaign designs to more than 20 formats per campaign.
Education
B.F.A. in Graphic Design, Art and design college in Oregon (2015 - 2019)
Many employers have your resume read first by software that filters on these words. Use them where they match your experience: in your summary and in your work experience.
graphic designer
brand identity
Adobe Creative Suite
Illustrator
InDesign
Photoshop
Figma
typography
layout
packaging design
print production
portfolio
How to make your resume stronger
Put your portfolio link at the top
Next to your contact details, short and clickable. Make sure it works and shows your best work first.
Name your specialty
Brand, packaging, digital, editorial, motion. A creative director wants to know right away where you fit.
Mention brands and products
Even without naming clients, you can describe the work: a line of 12 products, a campaign in 20 formats.
Keep the resume layout simple
Show your style in the portfolio. A clean, one-column resume is easier for both people and screening software to read.
List software honestly
Group the software you use daily separately from what you know the basics of. It avoids surprises in a design test.
Common mistakes
No portfolio link, or a link that does not work.
A heavily designed resume with text in images or graphics.
Listing every piece of software without saying what you made with it.
Describing tasks instead of projects and results.
Frequently asked questions
Should a graphic designer resume be creative?
A little style is fine, but keep the structure simple and the text selectable. Screening software cannot read text inside images, and your portfolio is the place to show range.
What should a graphic designer resume include?
Your portfolio link, specialty, software, and your main projects with results or scale. Add education and relevant courses.
How many projects should my portfolio have?
Six to ten strong projects are usually enough. Show your process for a few of them and put the most relevant work first.
Resumate is an AI resume builder for job seekers, at getresumate.com and getresumate.nl. We help candidates get past the filter with a resume, a cover letter and a match per job posting. Resumate is not a recruiter ATS and not a job board.