Resume template · Updated October 2026
Brand designer resume template
Short answer
Catalyst suits a brand designer with several years behind them: it prints no summary and opens on the current job, so the identity systems you led are the first thing read. The fictional sample is a senior designer at a brand studio who took a credit union from strategy workshop to a 400-touchpoint rollout, wrote the guidelines its in-house team now follows, and earlier launched restaurant identities.
Download the brand designer sample
Ines is a fictional senior brand designer. Replace every detail with your own before you send it.
The files are made in your browser by Resumity's own exporters, from this sample. The builder opens it as your own resume: click any line to replace it. Free plan, no watermark.
Why Catalyst suits a brand designer resume
Brand work is judged on systems that keep working once other people use them: guidelines, libraries, rollouts. Catalyst skips the summary and goes from the header straight into work experience, so those systems lead the page. Its single teal accent and IBM Plex Sans headings give it a typographic voice without fighting the portfolio.
Second choice: Daniel. Daniel keeps a summary and its grey heading pills look designed but neutral, a better fit for a junior brand designer whose portfolio needs an introduction.
What goes in each section, in Catalyst's order
Catalyst prints its sections in a fixed order, the same in the PDF and the Word file. Here is that order for this sample, and what to put in each section.
- Work Experience. With no summary printed, the headline carries your specialism ("Senior Brand Designer, Identity Systems"). In each role, separate the parts of a rebrand you led from the parts you supported: strategy input, identity design, guidelines, rollout. Then show adoption, such as a client team producing materials from your library without coming back to the studio.
- Skills. Catalyst prints labelled rows after the jobs. Put brand craft in Technical (identity systems, wordmarks, type pairing, art direction, motion logos) and the software plus any brand asset platform in Tools. Brand managers often ask which guideline tool you have built in, so name it.
- Education. A BFA or design diploma, with school and year on one line. Leave the thesis out unless it was a brand project you still show.
- Selected brand work. A short "Selected brand work" list maps the portfolio to the page: one line per case study with the client type and what you delivered. It lets a reviewer jump straight to the matching project.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Ines Carvalho
Senior Brand Designer, Identity Systems
Portland, OR | ines.carvalho@example.com | (503) 555-0147 | behance.net/sample-ines-carvalho | linkedin.com/in/sample-ines-carvalho
Experience
Senior Brand Designer, Fernhollow Studio, Portland, OR (04/2021 to Present)
- Led the identity system for a 40-branch credit union rebrand: wordmark, colour, type, photography direction and a layout grid used across signage, the mobile app and print.
- Wrote the 60-page brand guidelines and built the Figma library and asset portal; the client's in-house team now produces most new materials without studio help.
- Planned the rollout of about 400 touchpoints (branch signs, debit cards, app icon, forms) over nine months with the sign fabricator and the bank marketing team.
- Presented three identity directions at each client strategy workshop and turned the chosen route into a working system within six weeks.
- Mentor two mid-level designers and review all brand work before client presentations.
Brand Designer, Harbor & Vine Hospitality, Sacramento, CA (06/2017 to 03/2021)
- Created identities for four new restaurant concepts, from naming shortlist through menus, signage and staff uniforms.
- Built an InDesign and Canva template set so managers at 12 locations could make event posters that stayed on brand.
- Audited brand use across all locations and fixed the 30 most visible inconsistencies in signs, menus and social profiles.
Selected brand work
- Credit union rebrand: identity, guidelines and 400-touchpoint rollout.
- Food hall identity: wordmark, wayfinding and a sign kit for 18 vendor stalls.
- Pro bono: logo cleanup and a one-page guide for a youth arts nonprofit.
Education
BFA, Graphic Design, Willow Creek College of Art and Design (05/2017)
Skills
Identity systems, Logo and wordmark design, Typography, Brand guidelines, Art direction, Motion logo animation, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Figma, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Frontify, Leading client workshops, Presenting design rationale, Mentoring
How to make the sample yours
Name the strategy you designed from
Rebrands start from positioning, audience research or a naming brief. Say whether you helped write it or designed from it; studios hiring senior brand designers want to know whether you can hold your own in a strategy workshop.
Count touchpoints, not deliverables
The sample counts 400 rollout items across signage, cards and the app. A touchpoint count shows how big a system was; "designed logos" says nothing about scale.
Show the brand working without you
Guidelines, a Figma library, templates for local teams: the strongest brand bullets say who now produces on-brand work and how rarely they need the designer.
Describe confidential clients by sector
Many rebrands stay under NDA until launch. "A 40-branch credit union" or "a regional hospital network" keeps the scale and sector visible while respecting the contract.
Add the motion and digital pieces
Identity systems now include animated logos, app icons and social templates. If you designed any of these, put them in the rollout bullet so the system does not read as print-only.
Keywords to keep where they are true
Terms this kind of resume is usually searched for. Use the posting's exact wording, and only for work you have done.
- brand identity
- identity systems
- brand guidelines
- rebrand
- logo design
- typography
- art direction
- brand strategy
- visual language
- Adobe Illustrator
- Figma
- brand rollout
- motion branding
- design systems
Mistakes to avoid
- Listing every logo you have drawn. One identity system carried through rollout outweighs a dozen marks that never left the presentation deck.
- Claiming the brand strategy when an agency strategist or the client wrote it. Say you designed from it, or name the part you contributed.
- Skipping guidelines and asset libraries, the part of brand work a hiring manager can check was handed over properly.
- Writing a profile paragraph for Catalyst. It does not print one, so put your specialism in the headline.
How the sample PDF reads in text extractors
We exported this sample with Resumity's PDF exporter in Chrome on 2026-10-29 and read the file back with three open-source text extractors. This shows whether software that turns a PDF into text can recover it; it is not a test of any commercial applicant tracking system. How we test templates.
| Extractor | Name, email, phone | Headings | Bullets intact |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdf.js 4.10.38 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 4 of 4 | 8 of 8 |
Frequently asked questions
How is a brand designer resume different from a graphic designer resume?
A brand designer resume centres on systems: an identity, its rules and how it was rolled out across many touchpoints. A graphic designer resume shows the range of pieces produced. If you do both, give the identity work its own bullets.
Should I include brand work that never launched?
Yes, if it went far enough to show your thinking, such as a direction a client approved and then shelved. Say it was unreleased and keep confidential names out.
How many portfolio links should a brand designer include?
One, ideally to full case studies that cover the brief, the direction, the system and the rollout. Add a second link only for something distinct, such as a motion reel.
Do brand designers need to show strategy skills?
For senior roles, yes, in at least one bullet: a workshop you ran, research you used, a naming shortlist you built. Junior roles mostly hire for craft, so craft bullets come first there.
How do I list freelance brand projects?
As one freelance entry with dates and two or three bullets naming client types and the systems you delivered, rather than a separate line for each client.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Catalyst PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 4 section headings and all 8 bullets intact in three open-source text extractors (pdf.js, pdftotext and pypdf). Commercial systems such as Workday, Greenhouse or Taleo were not tested, and each employer configures its own.
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