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Graphic Designer resume example

Design hiring managers decide in seconds whether to open your portfolio, so the resume has one job: prove you ship clear, on-brand work that moves a business number. The strongest graphic designer resumes stay visually calm, name the tools the team actually uses, and point straight to a curated portfolio.

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Mara Castellanos
Senior Graphic Designer

mara.castellanos@example.com(555) 017-4410Portland, ORPortfolio: example.com/mara-design

Summary

Senior graphic designer with 9 years of experience building brand identities, packaging and editorial systems for retail and media clients. Turns loose briefs into clear visual systems, runs reliable print production and mentors junior designers. Recent work includes a full rebrand for a 140-location regional grocery chain.

Experience

Senior Graphic Designer, Fernhill Studio

Portland, OR | Apr 2021 – Present

  • Led the rebrand of a 140-location regional grocery chain, delivering a logo system, 60-page brand guidelines and signage templates in 12 weeks.
  • Built a Figma library of 220 campaign templates that cut production time for recurring promotions by 35%.
  • Designed packaging for a 9-product snack line whose first 25,000-unit run sold out in 6 weeks.
  • Mentored 3 junior designers through weekly critiques; 2 were promoted within 18 months.

Graphic Designer, Tidewater Media Group

Seattle, WA | Jun 2018 – Mar 2021

  • Produced 400+ print and digital assets a year for 3 regional magazines, meeting every print deadline.
  • Redesigned the subscription landing page with the web team, raising conversion from 2.1% to 3.4%.
  • Introduced a shared asset library that eliminated about $8,000 a year in duplicate stock-photo purchases.

Junior Designer, Copperline Print Co.

Tacoma, WA | Aug 2016 – May 2018

  • Prepared 1,200+ files for offset and large-format printing with a reprint rate under 1%.
  • Created menus, signage and event materials for 30+ local business clients.

Projects

Riverside Library Wayfinding

example.com/mara-design/wayfinding

Pro bono signage system for a community library.

  • Designed 45 bilingual signs and a floor map that reduced front-desk direction questions by about 40% in the first month.

Skills

Design: Brand identity, Typography, Editorial layout, Packaging, Art direction

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

Production: Prepress & colour management, Print vendor management, WCAG colour contrast

Education

BFA, Graphic Design, Cascadia College of Art

Seattle, WA | 2012 – 2016

Senior thesis: bilingual wayfinding system for a public library branch.

Recognition

Silver, Packaging Design, Cascadia Creative Awards

2023

Awarded for the snack-line packaging system.

Languages

English (Native)Swedish (Conversational)

Key skills for a graphic designer resume

Recruiters and applicant tracking systems search for specific skills. Use the ones that match the job ad and that you can back up with an example.

Technical and job-specific skills

  • Brand identity systems
  • Typography
  • Layout & editorial design
  • Packaging design
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Figma
  • Motion graphics (After Effects)
  • Prepress & colour management
  • Art direction for photo shoots
  • Accessible colour & contrast (WCAG)

Soft skills to show in your bullets

  • Taking and giving critique
  • Visual storytelling
  • Client communication
  • Time management under deadlines
  • Attention to detail
  • Collaboration with copy and dev teams

9 strong graphic designer bullet points

Each one opens with an action verb and ends with a result. Adapt the structure; swap in your own numbers.

  • Designed a 48-page annual report that the client board adopted as the template for the following three years.
  • Increased newsletter click-through rate by 22% by redesigning email templates around a single-column, mobile-first layout.
  • Reduced print costs by 18% by consolidating paper stocks and renegotiating terms with two print vendors.
  • Created 150+ social graphics per quarter from a templated system that kept the brand consistent across 4 channels.
  • Directed a 3-day product photo shoot, delivering 300 retouched images on time and under budget.
  • Developed an accessible colour palette in which 100% of text pairings met WCAG AA contrast.
  • Produced motion graphics for 12 product launch videos averaging 40,000 views each.
  • Streamlined the design request process with a structured brief form, cutting revision rounds from 4 to 2 on average.
  • Collaborated with copywriters and developers to launch a 25-page marketing website two weeks ahead of schedule.

Graphic Designer summary examples

Experienced

Senior graphic designer with 9 years of experience creating brand identities, packaging and editorial systems for retail and media clients. Known for turning loose briefs into clear visual systems, running efficient print production and mentoring junior designers. Recent work includes a full rebrand for a 140-store grocery chain.

Mid-level

Graphic designer with 4 years in agency and in-house roles, producing campaign, social and print work for consumer brands. Comfortable owning a project from first sketches to press-ready files, with strong typography skills and a working knowledge of motion design in After Effects.

Entry-level

Recent graphic design graduate with internship experience in branding and digital marketing assets. Skilled in Figma and Adobe Creative Suite, with a portfolio of 12 case studies covering identity, packaging and accessible web layouts. Eager to learn from a senior team and ship polished work quickly.

Tips for writing a graphic designer resume

Let the portfolio be the creative piece

Applicant tracking systems cannot read text inside images, icons or complex multi-column graphics, so keep the resume itself clean and text-based. Your restraint here is itself a design signal; save the visual flair for the portfolio.

Put the portfolio link in the header

Place a short, readable portfolio URL next to your email so nobody has to hunt for it. Curate 6–10 projects, and for each one show the brief, your process and the result rather than only final mock-ups.

Translate design into outcomes

Pair each project with a result the business cares about: conversion rate, sales, print savings, turnaround time or adoption of your templates. Even an approximate figure such as “cut production time by about a third” is more persuasive than “designed assets”.

Match your tools to the job ad

Product and digital roles screen for Figma and design-system work; print and packaging roles look for InDesign, prepress and vendor experience. List the tools the posting names first and drop software you have not used in years.

Show how you work with others

Designers rarely work alone. Mention critiques you run, copywriters and developers you partner with, and stakeholders you present to, because hiring managers screen hard for people who take feedback well.

Graphic Designer resume FAQ

Should a graphic designer resume be creative or simple?

Simple wins for the resume itself. Many design teams still use an applicant tracking system for the first pass, and heavy graphics, skill bars and text in images often get scrambled. Use clean typography and one accent colour, then let your portfolio show range.

Do I need a portfolio link on my resume?

Yes. For design roles the portfolio is usually what gets you the interview, and a resume without one is often skipped. Use a short custom URL, make sure it works on mobile, and remove any password protection unless the job ad says otherwise.

Which design software should I list?

List the tools in the job description that you can genuinely use in a test task, then add other current tools you use weekly. Avoid listing every app you have opened once; a shorter, honest list reads as more senior.

How do I show results when design feels subjective?

Look for what changed after your work shipped: higher click-through, more sign-ups, faster production, fewer print errors, or templates other teams adopted. If you lack hard numbers, describe scale instead, such as the number of locations, SKUs or pages your system covered.

Should freelance projects go on my resume?

Yes, especially if they fill a gap or show a skill your employer work does not. Group them under one entry like “Freelance Designer” with dates, and list two or three named, results-focused projects instead of every client.

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