Resume template · Updated October 2026
Graphic designer resume template
Short answer
Choose Daniel for a graphic designer resume. Its grey heading pills look designed without decoration, and skills print above your jobs so the Adobe apps and print skills come first. The fictional sample is an in-house designer at a snack brand: a 14-product packaging line taken to press, rewritten brand guidelines, trade show graphics, and earlier studio work on identities and gig posters.
Download the graphic designer sample
Nora is a fictional graphic 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 Daniel suits a graphic designer resume
A graphic designer's resume is itself a small layout test, and Daniel passes it quietly: headings in rounded light-grey pills, Inter throughout and no colour to fight with your portfolio. Skills sit above experience in three columns, so Illustrator, InDesign and print production are seen before the job history.
Second choice: Leslie. Leslie adds a single blue accent and prints experience before skills, better when your brands and clients matter more than your software.
What goes in each section, in Daniel's order
Daniel 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.
- Professional Summary. Your specialism and your media: brand, packaging, print, digital, motion. "Brand identity, packaging and print for food brands" sends a reader to the right part of your portfolio.
- Skills. Daniel prints three unlabelled columns. Lead with craft (identity, typography, packaging, print production), then the applications. Name InDesign and Illustrator individually instead of writing "Adobe Creative Cloud".
- Work Experience. Name what you designed, for whom, and how far it went: concept to press, a guideline others follow, a template others use. Counts of products, clients or campaign pieces help when used sparingly.
- Education. BFA, diploma or certificate, with school and year. A notable student award can go on the same line.
- Certifications. Adobe Certified Professional exams are app-specific (the Illustrator one is "Graphic Design and Illustration Using Adobe Illustrator") and valid for three years. Optional: the portfolio counts for more.
The sample resume as text
The same content as the files above, so you can copy a line or compare it with your own.
Nora Fitzgerald
Graphic Designer, Brand and Packaging
Nashville, TN | nora.fitzgerald@example.com | (615) 555-0170 | portfolio.example.com/nora-fitzgerald
Graphic designer with five years in brand identity, packaging and print for food and beverage brands. Takes work from concept sketches to press-ready files and keeps brand guidelines consistent across in-house and agency work.
Experience
Graphic Designer, Ridgeline Provisions, Nashville, TN (02/2024 to Present)
- Designed packaging for a 14-product snack line, from concept boards to dielines and press checks with the printer.
- Rewrote the brand guidelines with the marketing lead, adding packaging, photography and social templates; outside agencies now work from one document.
- Produced trade show graphics, sell sheets and retail displays for three national grocery buyer meetings.
- Built InDesign and Canva templates so the sales team can make their own one-pagers within the brand rules.
Junior Designer, Hatch & Harrow Studio, Nashville, TN (06/2021 to 01/2024)
- Designed logos and identity systems for nine small businesses, including restaurants, a brewery and a music venue.
- Prepared print files for posters, menus and merchandise, checking bleed, color profiles and spot colors with vendors.
- Designed a monthly gig poster series for the venue client, which it later sold as prints.
Education
BFA, Graphic Design, Cumberland School of Art and Design (05/2021)
Certifications
- Adobe Certified Professional: Graphic Design and Illustration Using Adobe Illustrator, Adobe (2024)
Skills
Brand identity, Packaging and dielines, Typography, Print production, Layout, Illustration, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Canva, Client presentations, Briefing photographers, Working with printers
How to make the sample yours
Match the portfolio order to the resume
If the resume leads with packaging, the portfolio should open with packaging. Reviewers check that the two tell the same story.
Swap the brand for your clients or employer
Replace the snack line with your own work, and describe clients by type ("a regional brewery") when you cannot name them.
Prove you can get files printed
Dielines, bleed, colour profiles, press checks: one bullet about production separates working designers from students.
Keep the template itself plain
Resist adding your own logo, colour blocks or skill graphics. Save the visual range for the portfolio, where it can be seen properly.
Trim the client list
Nine logos are an illustration. Name the projects or client types closest to the job and drop the rest.
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.
- graphic design
- brand identity
- packaging design
- print production
- typography
- layout
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- brand guidelines
- art direction
- illustration
- marketing collateral
- social media graphics
- prepress
Mistakes to avoid
- A layout with columns, icons or skill bars. Keep visual experiments for the portfolio.
- Writing "Adobe Creative Suite" instead of naming the apps you use.
- A portfolio link that opens slowly because of full-size images.
- Claiming art direction of a campaign where you produced the assets.
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 | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pdftotext (Xpdf) 4.00 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
| pypdf 6.13.0 | All found | 5 of 5 | 7 of 7 |
Frequently asked questions
Should a graphic designer resume be creative?
Clean and well set is the better signal. Readers judge your typography and spacing on the resume and your range in the portfolio, so keep the resume calm.
Where does a graphic designer put the portfolio link?
In the header next to your email, as a short URL. Check that it opens on a phone and shows your strongest project first.
Is an Adobe certification worth adding?
It helps early in a career or for teaching and training roles. Experienced designers are hired on the portfolio, so it is optional; if you hold one, list the app and the year.
Should I name portfolio pieces on the resume?
Not necessarily. Let the bullets describe the work and the link show it. Name a piece only if it is well known in your market or won an award.
How do I list freelance design work?
As one entry under your business name or "Freelance Graphic Designer", with dates and bullets for the strongest clients or projects.
Will applicant tracking systems read this Daniel PDF?
The sample PDF read back with its contact details, all 5 section headings and all 7 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.
Guides and templates for this resume
Sources, checked 29 October 2026
We opened every page below on that date. Pay, rules and requirements change, so check the source before you rely on a detail.
- Certiport (Pearson VUE): Adobe Certified Professional (exam titles per app, such as "Graphic Design and Illustration Using Adobe Illustrator"; each certification is valid for three years from issue)
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