As a designer, your resume needs to be as aesthetically pleasing as it is informative, showcasing your creative flair and technical skills.
It’s essential to present a portfolio of work that captures your unique style and professional experience.
Check out our designer resume writing guide, complete with a designer resume example to help you craft a standout application.
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Designer Resume Example
The example Designer resume above demonstrates the ideal format and content your resume should have.
Its professional and clean layout is designed for optimal readability by busy hiring managers.
Follow our comprehensive guide to write your own effective Designer resume.
Designer resume structure & format
Resume structure
A strategically structured resume is crucial for showcasing your strengths and securing interviews.
Ensure your resume includes these sections:
- Contact details: Your name and contact information.
- Resume summary: A concise overview of your qualifications and skills.
- Core skills: A list of key skills relevant to Designer jobs.
- Work experience: Detailed in reverse chronological order, showcasing your career progression.
- Education: Your academic achievements and credentials.
- Additional info (optional): Extra details that might influence the hiring decision, like volunteer work or special interests.
How to format your Designer resume
The format of your resume determines how attractive it will look to hiring managers, and how easy it will be for them to read.
Here are the main things to remember when formatting your resume.
- Resume length: Keep your resume concise, aiming for 1 to 2 pages. With recruiters swamped by resumes daily, keeping it brief can help you stand out.
- Font & colour scheme: Choose a clear and easy-to-read font, steering clear of overly decorative ones that could hinder readability. Stick with a classic black-text-on-white-background for the body of the resume, but don’t shy away from adding a hint of colour elsewhere to make your resume stand out.
- Page layout: Ensure your page is divided into clear sections with bold headings or borders, as this enables readers to quickly pinpoint the information they’re interested in.
- Break text up: Break up text with concise bullet points and brief paragraphs, ensuring busy recruiters can easily absorb the info.
- Photos: Photos aren’t necessary in Australia, but if you want, you can include a small headshot at the top.
Quick tip: Achieving a professional look for your resume can be difficult and time-consuming. If you want to create an attractive resume quickly, try our Resume Builder and use one of our eye-catching professional resume templates.
Contact Details
Seeing who you are and how you can be contacted is essential for potential employers, so it’s critical that your contact details section is both clear and accurate.
Include these four crucial elements at the top of your resume, but ensure they don’t take up excessive space:
- Your name and professional title: Choose a title that aligns with your career objectives, such as IT Support Specialist or Video Editor.
- Email address: Use a professional email address (e.g. aaron.davis.work@gmail.com). Avoid using old or informal emails like big.boy.aaron@gmail.com.
- Phone number: Provide your mobile number for easy accessibility. Make sure to double-check that the number is correct.
- Location: Specify the broader area where you are seeking employment, such as Cairns, Perth etc.
Optionally, you may consider adding the following details:
- Webpage links: Include links to professional sites like LinkedIn or your personal portfolio, ensuring they are current and professionally relevant.
- Photograph: While not typically required, a professional photograph may be advantageous in creative fields. If you decide to use one, ensure it is compact on the page, and professional in appearance.
Refrain from adding personal data such as your date of birth, full address, or gender. These are not necessary for recruitment decisions and simply clutter your resume.
Designer Resume Summary
The resume summary at the top of your document is a crucial, concise introduction that encapsulates your professional qualifications and readiness for the job. It sets the stage for your detailed application.
To instantly capture a recruiter’s attention and lead them into reading further into your resume, use these proven tips:
- Keep it short: Aim for a concise summary of 3 to 5 sentences, ensuring it can be quickly scanned. You can elaborate on details later, in the work experience section.
- Tailor to target jobs: For maximum impact, try to reflect as many matching skills from your target job adverts as you can. This will make recruiters more likely to pay attention.
- Avoid using cliches: Resist the temptation to describe yourself as a “self-starter” or a “results-driven professional” – these clichés offer little insight into your actual capabilities.
Designer resume summary example
What to include in your Designer resume summary
- Summary of your experience: Provide a summary of your work history, including the types of roles you’ve held, the companies you’ve worked for, and the extent of your experience.
- Relevant skills: Highlight your most valuable skills, focusing on job-specific skills for Designer jobs.
- Qualifications: Include a short note about any relevant qualifications for Designer roles to demonstrate your suitability for the position.
- Benefits of hiring you: Employers want to see the value you offer to their organisation, whether it’s through cost savings, enhanced productivity, or increased customer acquisition.
Quick tip: Choose from hundreds of pre-written summaries across all industries, and add one to your resume with one-click in our Resume Builder. All written by recruitment experts and easily tailored to suit your unique skillset and style.
Core skills section
Make your resume more noticeable with a dedicated core skills section.
Use bullet points to highlight the skills most in demand for Designer positions, and keep descriptions brief, ideally under four words, for easy scanning by busy hiring managers.
Skills for your Designer resume
Graphic Design Proficiency – Mastery of design software such as Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, for creating visual content.
Web Design Expertise – Crafting responsive and user-friendly website designs using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, along with knowledge of web standards and best practices.
Typography Knowledge – Selecting and manipulating typeface designs, font pairings, and typesetting for readability and aesthetic appeal in various design projects.
UX/UI Design Principles – Applying user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) design principles to create intuitive and engaging digital products.
Motion Graphics Capability – Creating animated graphics and visual effects using software like Adobe After Effects to enhance multimedia projects.
Print Production Understanding – Managing the print production process, from pre-press to selecting paper and overseeing the final print run.
Branding Development – Building and evolving brand identities, including logos, colour schemes, and overall design language to represent a company’s ethos.
3D Modelling and Animation – Utilising software such as Blender or Autodesk Maya for generating three-dimensional models, animations, and visualisations.
Video Editing and Production – Editing video footage and producing video content with tools like Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut Pro.
Packaging Design – Crafting packaging designs that protect products, meet regulatory requirements, and appeal to consumers aesthetically.
Quick tip: Our Resume Builder contains thousands of in-demand skills for every profession that can be added to your resume in seconds – saving you time and greatly improving your chances of landing job interviews and getting hired.
Work experience section
Use your work experience section to highlight the value you offer to employers.
Arrange your employment history in reverse chronological order, concentrating primarily on your experiences from the past 3-5 years.
Structuring your jobs
To help recruiters understand your past roles, organise each position in the following manner.
Outline
Start with a 1 to 2 line outline of the job, including what the employer does, where you sit within the organisation, and the overall goal of the job.
Key responsibilities
Use bullet points to detail the key responsibilities of your role, highlighting hard skills, software and knowledge wherever you can.
Keep them short and sharp to make them easily digestible by readers.
Key achievements
Round up each role by listing 1-3 key achievements that had a big positive impact on the employer (like saving them money or completing a project ahead of schedule)
Wherever possible, quantify them using hard facts and figures to prove the value you delivered.
Example job for Designer resume
Outline
Provide digital and print design services on a freelance basis to a wide variety of clients in fashion, finance, music, and healthcare, working with over 80 clients in the last 3 years.
Key Responsibilities
- Develop design concepts and present them to clients, incorporating feedback and making revisions as necessary
- Manage projects from concept to delivery within timelines and budgets
- Create user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designs that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional
- Conceptualise and design digital and print-based assets such as websites, logos, brochures, and social media graphics
Quick tip: Create impressive job descriptions easily in our Resume Builder by adding pre-written job phrases for every industry and career stage.
Education section
Your resume should feature an education section near the end.
This part should be a bullet-pointed list of your qualifications, with a focus on those that are significant for Designer roles.
Keep it brief if you are an experienced candidate. If you’re new to the field, use this section to elaborate on the skills and knowledge you’ve obtained through your educational pursuits.
This section can include:
- University degrees
- Industry specific qualifications for Designer jobs
- Vocational education and training (VET) diplomas
- Senior Secondary Certificate of Education (SSCE)
Additional information (optional)
At the end of your resume, you can consider incorporating a section for additional information.
This part is suitable for hobbies, interests, awards, publications, or technical skills that could enhance your appeal to employers.
When adding content here, ensure it is either directly relevant to your profession or exceptionally impressive.
Avoid listing everyday activities like watching television or casual socialising, as they are unlikely to influence hiring decisions.
Constructing a compelling Designer resume requires effort, but by following the steps provided, you can assemble a resume that prompts replies from recruiters and generates multiple interviews.
Be sure to revise your resume carefully upon completion and tailor it for each application to confirm your alignment with the job requirements.
Good luck with your job search!