Graphic designer CV template

Your portfolio is the product; the CV is the packaging

No design hire happens without the portfolio, so the CV's first job is getting people to it: a short, memorable URL in the header, repeated as a visible link, working from any device. Everything else on the page exists to make the reviewer want to click it and to survive the HR software between you and them.

That reframing settles the eternal question of how creative a design CV should be. The CV demonstrates judgment (typography, hierarchy, restraint); the portfolio demonstrates range. A reviewer who sees a beautifully restrained CV assumes the portfolio is worth opening. The reverse is not true.

Writing about visual work in words

Design bullets go wrong by describing artifacts ("created logos, brochures and social assets") instead of effects. What did the work do? "Rebranded a 40-location restaurant group; franchise inquiries rose 25% in the following two quarters." "Redesigned the app store creative; install conversion improved 15%." Client scale, engagement lifts, conversion, award shortlists and press pickups are all legitimate design metrics.

Where numbers genuinely don't exist, name the constraint you designed through: a 3-week rebrand, a design system covering 200 components, print runs of 50k with zero reprint errors. Constraint plus outcome reads as professionalism; a list of deliverables reads as a production line.

Tools, skills and the software section

Recruiters do search design CVs by software, so list your stack plainly: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, After Effects, and any motion or 3D tools that differentiate you. Skip the skill-percentage bars entirely; "Photoshop 90%" is meaningless and slightly embarrassing, and every design lead knows it.

Balance the software list with the capabilities that actually get hired: brand identity, editorial layout, packaging, motion, design systems, illustration. Software says you can operate the tools; capabilities say what you can make with them.

Freelance, agency and in-house: framing each

Freelancers should consolidate: one "Independent designer" entry with dates, then bullets for the strongest client engagements with scale markers (client size, campaign reach, repeat business). Agency designers should name recognizable clients where NDAs allow and quantify pace ("12 concurrent client accounts"). In-house designers should emphasize systems and measurable product impact, since that is what in-house panels compare against agency polish.