Last Minute Resume
Try for free

Graphic Designer resume example

Your portfolio gets you the job, but your resume gets the portfolio opened. Keep the resume clean and readable by an ATS, link the portfolio at the top, and show results that a non-designer can understand.

Build my graphic designer resume with AICheck my resume's ATS score

Free to start. No card needed.

Why this resume works

  • Every bullet starts with a verb and ends with a result, most with a number.
  • The skills a graphic designer job post asks for appear in the Skills section and again inside the bullets.
  • A single, standard layout (Modern Professional) that applicant tracking systems read top to bottom.
  • Standard headings (Summary, Work Experience, Education, Skills) so the ATS files each part correctly.

Emma Collins

Graphic Designer

emma.collins@email.com | +1 416 555 0172 | Toronto, ON | linkedin.com/in/emmacollins | emmacollins.design

Professional Summary

Graphic designer with 5 years of experience in brand identity, marketing and social content for consumer brands. Works fast in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma, and turns briefs into designs that sell. Led a rebrand that lifted brand recall by 30%.

Work Experience

2022 – Present

Graphic Designer

Maple & Oak Foods

  • Led a full rebrand (logo, packaging, guidelines) across 40 products; brand recall rose 30% in customer surveys.
  • Design 60+ social, email and web assets a month for the marketing team, always on deadline.
  • Created a brand template library in Figma and Canva that let 15 marketers make on-brand assets themselves.
  • Art-directed 4 product photo shoots with outside photographers.

2020 – 2022

Junior Graphic Designer

Bluebird Creative Agency

  • Designed print and digital campaigns for 20 clients in retail, hospitality and non-profits.
  • Produced packaging for a local beverage brand now sold in 300 stores.
  • Prepared print-ready files and managed proofs with printers, with no costly reprints.

Skills

Design: Brand identity, typography, layout, packaging, social media design, art direction, print production

Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, Figma, Canva

Education

2016 – 2020Toronto

BDes, Graphic Design

OCAD University

Example graphic designer resume · Modern Professional template · made-up person

Graphic Designer resume summary examples

Two or three lines at the top: your years of experience, your strongest skills, and the result you are known for.

This example

Graphic designer with 5 years of experience in brand identity, marketing and social content for consumer brands. Works fast in Adobe Creative Suite and Figma, and turns briefs into designs that sell. Led a rebrand that lifted brand recall by 30%.

Entry level

Graphic design graduate with a portfolio of brand, poster and packaging work, and a freelance logo practice with 12 small-business clients. Skilled in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, and quick to take feedback.

Experienced

Senior designer and art director with 10 years of experience leading brand and campaign work for national retailers. Manages a team of 4 designers and has led 3 award-winning rebrands.

Write your own with the free summary generator →

Graphic Designer resume bullet points

Use them as a pattern, not a copy: swap in your own numbers. If you don't have a number, describe the before and after.

  • Led a rebrand across 40 products that raised brand recall by 30%.

  • Design 60+ social, email and web assets a month, always on deadline.

  • Built a Figma and Canva template library so 15 marketers could make on-brand assets.

  • Art-directed 4 product photo shoots with outside photographers.

  • Designed packaging for a beverage brand now sold in 300 stores.

  • Created campaigns for 20 clients across retail, hospitality and non-profits.

  • Prepared print-ready files with no costly reprints in 2 years.

  • Redesigned email templates that raised click-through rate from 2.1% to 3.4%.

Turn your own duties into bullets with the free bullet point generator →

Skills and ATS keywords for a graphic designer resume

Skills that often appear in graphic designer job posts. Add only the ones you really have, in the same words the post uses, and check every job post for its own.

  • Graphic design
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
  • Figma
  • Brand identity
  • Typography
  • Layout
  • Visual design
  • Packaging design
  • Social media graphics
  • Print production
  • Art direction
  • Motion graphics
  • After Effects
  • Brand guidelines
  • Marketing materials
  • Canva
  • Creative briefs
Graphic Designer cover letter example →See which keywords your resume is missing for a real job →

How to write a graphic designer resume

  1. 01

    Keep the resume simple

    A heavily designed resume often breaks in an ATS. Keep the layout clean, and save your style for the portfolio.

  2. 02

    Link the portfolio first

    Put your portfolio URL in the header, and make sure the first 3 projects there match the job you're applying for.

  3. 03

    Translate design into results

    Brand recall, sales, click-through rates, time saved for other teams. Recruiters aren't designers, but they understand numbers.

  4. 04

    Name each Adobe app

    Write Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign separately, not just "Adobe Suite". Job posts and ATS search for each.

Graphic Designer resume, section by section

Header with the portfolio first

Emma's portfolio link (emmacollins.design) sits right in the header. Most design hiring managers open the portfolio before reading much of the resume, so make the link short, working and easy to spot.

Summary

Her summary names her specialties (brand identity, marketing and social content), the kind of client (consumer brands), her tools (Adobe Creative Suite and Figma) and one measured result: a rebrand that lifted brand recall by 30%. A number in a designer's summary is unusual and memorable.

Work experience

Her current role mixes a big project (a rebrand across 40 products, with recall up 30%), volume (60+ assets a month on deadline), a system (a template library that lets 15 marketers make on-brand work) and art direction. Together they show creative skill, speed and good working habits.

Agency role

Her agency job shows range (20 clients across retail, hospitality and non-profits), a result a non-designer understands (packaging now sold in 300 stores) and production skill (print-ready files with no costly reprints). Production skills are often what separates a junior from a mid-level designer.

Skills

Design skills (identity, typography, layout, packaging, art direction, print production) and every Adobe app by name. Listing Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and After Effects separately is better than "Adobe Creative Suite" alone.

Education

A design degree, school and year on one line. If you're self-taught or from a bootcamp, that's fine; the portfolio carries the weight.

Entry-level to senior graphic designer resume bullet points

Junior designer (0–2 years)

  • Design 30 social posts and 4 email headers a week from brand templates.
  • Adapt campaign artwork into 15 formats for print and digital.
  • Retouch 200 product photos a month in Photoshop for the online store.
  • Prepare print-ready files for flyers and posters, checking bleed, color and fonts.

Graphic designer (3–5 years)

  • Designed the identity for a new restaurant brand, from logo to menus and signage, now in 3 locations.
  • Made 20 short motion graphics in After Effects for paid social; video ads beat static ads on click-through by 40%.
  • Present concepts to clients and marketing leads and run two rounds of revisions on every project.
  • Wrote brand guidelines now used by 2 outside agencies.

Senior designer / art director (6+ years)

  • Lead 3 designers and set the visual direction for 4 product lines.
  • Art-direct campaigns with photographers, illustrators and video agencies on budgets up to $80,000.
  • Introduced a design request and review process that cut turnaround from 6 days to 3.
  • Review all brand work for quality and consistency before release.

Mistakes to avoid on a graphic designer resume

  • Skill bars and ratings

    "Photoshop: 4 out of 5 stars" means nothing to a reader and confuses applicant tracking systems. Show your skill through the work you describe.

  • Describing designs as beautiful

    "Created stunning, eye-catching designs" is opinion. Say what the work was for and what happened: sales, sign-ups, recall or stores stocked.

  • No sign of how you work with others

    Designers work from briefs, take feedback and hit deadlines. A bullet about presenting concepts, revisions or working with marketing shows you're easy to work with.

  • Leaving out production skills

    Print-ready files, color profiles, proofing and file handover are part of the job. Mention them; they save employers money.

Key takeaways

  • Put a working portfolio link at the top.
  • Keep the resume plain so applicant tracking systems can read it.
  • Translate design into results a non-designer understands.
  • Show speed, volume and how you work with others.

Questions about graphic designer resumes

Should a graphic designer use a creative resume template?
Use a clean, single-column layout for applications that go through an ATS. You can send a designed PDF when you're emailing a person directly.
How many portfolio projects should I show?
Six to ten strong projects, each with the brief, your role and the result. Quality and relevance matter more than quantity.
Should I list Canva?
Yes, if the job is in marketing or social content; many teams use it. Lead with professional tools like Illustrator and Figma.
Should I include freelance work?
Yes. List it as a role, like "Freelance Graphic Designer, 2021–2023", with the kinds of clients and one or two results. Freelance work shows you can handle briefs, deadlines and clients on your own.
In-house or agency: does it change my resume?
A little. Agency resumes show range: the number and types of clients and campaigns. In-house resumes show depth: a brand you've shaped, the volume you produce and the systems you've built. Emma has both, so each role shows a different strength.

Sources

Duties, pay, education and job outlook for graphic designers in the US: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook.

Your graphic designer resume, written with you.

Tell the AI about your work. It asks for the numbers, writes the bullets, and checks the ATS score as you go.

Start free

More resume examples