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Graphic Designer resume example

Your portfolio shows your craft; your resume has to show that the craft worked. Graphic design hiring managers look for the range of media you’ve handled, the tools in their posting, and evidence that your designs met a brief: on brand, on time and with results.

Upload yours and get an ATS score and fixes for graphic designer roles. 7-day free trial, no card.

A sample graphic designer resume in the Creative template. The color masthead shows taste at a glance without the parsing risks of a heavily designed layout. The person and employers are fictional.
Professional summary

Graphic Designer summary examples

Two to four sentences under your name: who you are, your strongest evidence, and what you’re aiming for. Pick the one closest to your situation and make it yours.

  • In-house

    Graphic designer with 5 years in-house at a consumer brand, covering packaging, campaign creative and social. Fast in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma, and protective of brand consistency across 30+ markets.

  • Agency

    Agency designer with 4 years producing identity, print and digital work for clients in hospitality and retail. Comfortable taking a brief from pitch to print-ready files on tight deadlines.

  • Entry-level

    Graphic design graduate with internship experience in social media and event branding. Designed the visual identity for a 2,000-person student festival, from posters to wayfinding.

Experience

Graphic Designer resume bullet points

Each one starts with a strong verb, says what you did and ends with a result, with a number wherever you can defend one. Swap in your own figures.

Stuck on your own bullets? Read how to write resume bullets with numbers.

Skills

Skills for a graphic designer resume

Design
Brand identityTypographyLayoutPackagingIllustration
Software
Adobe PhotoshopIllustratorInDesignFigmaAfter Effects
Production
Print productionPrepressColor managementAsset management
ATS keywords

Keywords recruiters search for

Terms that often appear in graphic designer postings. Use the posting’s exact wording, and only include the ones your experience backs up.

  • Graphic design
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Brand guidelines
  • Visual identity
  • Typography
  • Layout design
  • Print design
  • Digital design
  • Social media graphics
  • Packaging design
  • Concept development
  • Motion graphics

Paste a real job description into the resume tailoring tool to see exactly which of its keywords your resume is missing.

How to write a graphic designer resume

Tie at least a few bullets to results

Engagement, conversion, shelf placement, event turnout or a client renewal all count. It shows you design for goals, not only for looks.

Name the software versions and platforms the posting lists

“Adobe Creative Suite” may be screened as a phrase; list the individual apps too.

Avoid infographic resumes for online applications

Skill bars, icons for section titles and text inside images can be invisible to an ATS. Save the showpiece version for sending directly to a person.

Curate the portfolio for the job

Link to a portfolio that opens on the work closest to the role: packaging for packaging roles, motion for motion roles.

Check it before you apply

Run it through the ATS resume checker to see how applicant tracking software reads it, then tailor it to the job description for each application.

Related resume examples

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