Graphic designer resume example

What recruiters look for

• Ownership of whole projects: an identity, a packaging line or a campaign you led from brief to final files, not just pieces you produced.
• Systems thinking: guidelines, templates and toolkits that let other people use the brand correctly.
• Evidence of results: sales placements, bookings, response rates, fewer off-brand materials. One or two numbers make the portfolio more convincing.
• Client or stakeholder skills: presenting work, defending a choice, managing feedback rounds.
• Specialty: brand, packaging, editorial, campaigns or motion. A clear specialty beats “does everything”.

Writing the summary

Name your years, the settings you have worked in and your specialty. Add one line about the kind of work you lead. Avoid listing software in the summary; your skills section and portfolio show it.

Bullet points that work

Strong lines for this role, beyond the ones in the example. Borrow the shape and put in your own numbers.

• Redesigned a 40-product packaging line, which retailers cited in a 15% rise in shelf placements the following year.
• Built a brand toolkit of 80 templates in Figma and InDesign, cutting the time sales teams spent on pitch decks by about half.
• Designed a direct mail piece for a membership drive that brought in 2,300 new members, a 4.1% response rate against a 2% goal.
• Led the visual identity for a city arts festival seen by 120,000 visitors, from posters to stage graphics and merchandise.
• Cut production costs by $18,000 a year by consolidating print vendors and standardizing paper stocks.
• Created the motion guidelines and 12 animated logo and lower-third templates used across 200 videos a year.
• Pitched three concepts that won a $250,000 rebrand account for the agency.
• Designed a 160-page annual report on a six-week schedule with two writers and a data team.
• Ran an A/B test of two ad layouts with the paid media team, and the winner lifted click-through by 19%.
• Reviewed and approved 1,000+ pieces a year from outside agencies against brand standards.

Skills to list

Certifications and licenses worth listing

• None expected: mid-level designers are hired on portfolio and references.
• Adobe Certified Professional: worth a line only if the job ad mentions it.
• Short courses in a specialty (motion, packaging structures, accessibility) can go under Education if they relate to the job.

Length and format

One page is right up to about ten years of experience. Give your current role four bullets and the previous one three. An awards or recognition line is worth keeping if it is recent and relevant; older student awards can go.

Common mistakes

• Bullets that list deliverables (“designed brochures, flyers and banners”) with no project, audience or result.
• A different visual style on the resume and the portfolio. Make them look like they came from the same designer.
• Claiming a team project as your own. Say what you led and what you contributed; reviewers often know who did what.
• Leaving out presenting and client work, which is often what separates mid-level from junior.
• Using “creative” and “passionate” in place of evidence.