Ensuring your CV stands out to potential employers is a significant challenge in the competitive field of design. Our guide offers expert tips and industry-specific strategies to help you craft a CV that showcases your unique creative talents and grabs attention.
- Answer job requirements with your designer CV and experience;
- Curate your academic background and certificates, following industry-leading CV examples;
- Select from +10 niche skills to match the ideal candidate profile
- Write a more succinct experience section that consists of all the right details.
Do you need more specific insights into writing your designer CV? Our guides focus on unique insights for each individual role:
Structuring your designer CV layout: four factors to keep in mind
There are plenty of best practices out there for your CV layout and design. At the end of the day, a clear format and concise CV message should be your top priority. Use your CV design to enhance separate sections, bringing them to the forefront of recruiters' attention. At the same time, you can write content that:- Follows the reverse chronological order in the experience section by first listing your most recent jobs;
- Incorporates your contact information in the header, but do skip out on the CV photo for roles in the UK;
- Is spotlighted in the most important sections of your CV, e.g. the summary or objective, experience, education, etc. to show just how you meet the job requirements;
- Is no longer than two-pages. Often, the one-page format can be optimal for your designer CV.
Before submitting your CV, you may wonder whether to export it in Doc or PDF. With the PDF format, your information and layout stay intact. This is quite useful when your CV is assessed by the Applicant Tracker System (or the ATS) . The ATS is a software that scans your profile for all relevant information and can easily understand latest study on the ATS , which looks at your CV columns, design, and so much more.
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Be mindful of white space; too much can make the CV look sparse, too little can make it look cluttered. Strive for a balance that makes the document easy on the eyes.
The top sections on a designer CV
- Personal statement offers a quick insight into your design philosophy.
- Design portfolio showcases your best work and style.
- Work experience details past roles and relevant projects.
- Education background includes degrees and design-related courses.
- Technical skills highlight software proficiency and design tools.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your design portfolio by including a link to your online portfolio or attaching visual examples of your work to demonstrate your range of skills and aesthetic sensibility.
- Showcase your proficiency in design tools and software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, or Figma, to prove your technical capabilities and industry-relevant skills.
- Emphasise your understanding of design principles and processes by detailing your experience with user-centred design, typography, colour theory, and branding in your project descriptions.
- Include any collaboration or leadership experience to illustrate your ability to work in a team environment, manage projects, and communicate effectively with clients and colleagues.
- Mention any relevant awards, recognitions or publications to establish credibility and to signal to potential employers that your work is respected within the design community.
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What information should you include in your designer CV header?
The CV header is potentially the section that recruiters would refer to the most, as it should include your:
- Contact details - your professional (non-work) email address and phone number;
- Professional photograph - if you're applying hinting at the value you bring as a professional.
Many professionals often struggle with writing their designer CV headline. That's why in the next section of this guide, we've curated examples of how you can optimise this space to pass any form of assessment.
Examples of good CV headlines for designer:
- Lead UX/UI Designer | Human-Centred Solutions | Adobe XD Specialist | 10+ Years in Digital Design
- Junior Graphic Designer | Bold Branding & Visual Identity | BA (Hons) Graphic Design | Emerging Talent
- Senior Interior Designer | Luxury Residential Spaces | CAD Expertise | 15 Years of Creative Excellence
- Creative Director | Multidisciplinary Design Leadership | Brand Strategy | MA Design Innovation | 20+ Years
- Digital Fashion Illustrator | Trend-Setting Apparel Art | Advanced Photoshop | 5 Years Industry Impact
- Product Designer | User Experience Architect | Prototyping Guru | BSc Industrial Design | 8 Years' Innovation
Catching recruiters' attention with your designer CV summary or objective
Located closer to the top of your CV, both the summary and objective are no more than five sentences long and serve as an introduction to your experience. What is more, you could use either to entice recruiters to read on. Select the:
- Summary, if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience. Feature your most impressive accomplishments and up to three skills that are relevant to the job you're applying for;
- Objective, if you're just starting your career off. Provide your career goals and answer how you see the role you are applying for will match your professional growth.
Judging which one you need to add to your designer CV may at times seem difficult. That’s why you need to check out how professionals, with similar to your experience, have written their summary or objective, in the examples below:
CV summaries for a designer job:
- With over 10 years of experience in graphic design, specialising in brand identity and digital illustration, I've successfully led a rebranding campaign for a major tech firm, increasing their market visibility by 45%. Skilled in Adobe Creative Suite, I bring a proven track record of creative innovation and a strong aesthetic sense.
- As an accomplished UX/UI designer boasting 8 years of experience, I take pride in having forged intuitive interfaces for SaaS products, which led to a 30% increase in user engagement. My expertise lies in user-centric design principles, wireframing, and prototyping using Sketch and InVision.
- Transitioning from a successful 7-year career in architecture to graphic design, I bring a unique perspective that combines spatial awareness with visual composition. Fluent in AutoCAD and Adobe Creative Suite, I am eager to apply my design sensibilities within a new medium and contribute fresh visual solutions.
- Formerly a professional photographer with a keen eye for aesthetics, I am making the leap into graphic design. With a 5-year journey of capturing stories through the lens, I'm excited to transition these narrative skills into creating compelling visual designs using my proficiency in Photoshop and InDesign.
- Seeking to utilise a passion for digital art and a fresh perspective to embark on a new path in UX/UI design. While my background is not traditional, my dedication to learning and applying design principles, coupled with a deep interest in user-centric technology, drives me to excel in this field.
- Eager to unleash my potential as a junior graphic designer and grow within a dynamic team, my objective is to contribute innovative ideas and designs. My proficiency in Illustrator and commitment to continuous learning, backed by expertise in social media content creation, will fuel my journey in the creative industry.
Best practices for writing your designer CV experience section
If your profile matches the job requirements, the CV experience is the section which recruiters will spend the most time studying. Within your experience bullets, include not merely your career history, but, rather, your skills and outcomes from each individual role. Your best experience section should promote your profile by:
- including specific details and hard numbers as proof of your past success;
- listing your experience in the functional-based or hybrid format (by focusing on the skills), if you happen to have less professional, relevant expertise;
- showcasing your growth by organising your roles, starting with the latest and (hopefully) most senior one;
- staring off each experience bullet with a verb, following up with skills that match the job description, and the outcomes of your responsibility.
Add keywords from the job advert in your experience section, like the professional CV examples:
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Quantify your design achievements with metrics, such as increasing user engagement by 20% after redesigning a web interface. Provide specific numbers to give credibility to your design impact.
- Highlight your proficiency in design software and tools, like Adobe Creative Suite or Sketch, by mentioning complex projects where these were essential. Demonstrate your versatility and expertise through examples.
- Include collaborative projects to showcase your teamwork abilities, stating how you communicated and worked with cross-functional teams to achieve design goals. Emphasise your role within these collaborations.
- Discuss your experience with user-centred design by listing projects where you conducted user research, created personas, and designed with usability in mind. Show your commitment to creating user-friendly designs.
- Detail your creative process by explaining your approach to problem-solving, from conceptualisation to the final design. Share how your creative thinking led to successful outcomes.
- Describe your experience with brand development and how you have contributed to establishing or evolving a company's visual identity. Mention specific brand elements you created or improved.
- Mention any leadership experience, such as leading a design team or project, detailing your role in guiding design direction and mentoring junior designers. Highlight your ability to manage and inspire.
- Outline your experience with responsive design by discussing projects where you created designs that adapt to various devices and screen sizes. Detail the challenges and your effective solutions.
- Cite any awards or recognitions you have received for your design work, which can help to reinforce your expertise and reputation in the industry. Explain the significance of these accolades.
- Led design initiatives for flagship products, achieving a user satisfaction score increase of 25% year-over-year
- Managed a cross-functional team of 5 designers and developers to overhaul the product design language, successfully launching the new design within 10 months
- Collaborated closely with engineering and marketing teams to integrate user research into product features, contributing to a 40% reduction in churn rate
- Designed and delivered a comprehensive UX strategy for SaaS platforms, improving client onboarding time by 30%
- Instrumental in user testing and feedback loops, refining user personas and journey maps to better match customer needs
- Oversaw the implementation of A/B testing protocols that led to a 20% improvement in conversion rates
- Conceptualized and implemented a responsive design framework for web applications, enhancing the user experience across various devices and platforms
- Collaborated with product management to develop user-centric designs, resulting in a 15% increase in user engagement
- Developed wireframes, prototypes, and high-fidelity visuals for more than 20 major projects, aligning with brand standards and business goals
- Created and maintained the visual identity for over 50 corporate clients, effectively communicating brand values and messages
- Steered the creative direction for major marketing campaigns, which saw increases in consumer engagement by up to 35%
- Mastered various design software and tools, streamlining production times by 20% while maintaining high-quality outputs
- Researched and applied interactive elements to digital platforms that improved user task completion rates by 40%
- Facilitated workshops and interactive prototyping sessions to gather real-time user feedback, informing iterative design improvements
- Piloted a new framework for gathering and analyzing user interaction data, which became a standard process in the design team
- Expanded clientele by 150% through networking and high-quality deliverables within the span of 1 year
- Implemented innovative design solutions for various media, including print, web, and mobile applications
- Effectively managed multiple projects simultaneously, with an average project rating of 4.8/5.0 from clients
- Supported design team in delivering creative work within tight deadlines, recognized with a team excellence award for Q4 2010
- Assisted in the development of branding materials, resulting in a consistent visual language for 3 new product launches
- Contributed to user interface design improvements, contributing to a 10% uplift in user experience scores
What to add in your designer CV experience section with no professional experience
If you don't have the standard nine-to-five professional experience, yet are still keen on applying for the job, here's what you can do:
- List any internships, part-time roles, volunteer experience, or basically any work you've done that meets the job requirements and is in the same industry;
- Showcase any project you've done in your free time (even if you completed them with family and friends) that will hint at your experience and skill set;
- Replace the standard, CV experience section with a strengths or achievements one. This will help you spotlight your transferrable skills that apply to the role.
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Describe how each job helped you grow or learn something new, showing a continuous development path in your career.
Key designer CV skills: what are hard skills and soft skills
Let's kick off with the basics. You know that you have to include key job requirements or skills across your CV. For starters, take individual skills from the job description and copy-paste them into your CV, when relevant. Doing so, you'll ensure you have the correct skill spelling and also pass the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment. There are two types of skills you'll need to include on your CV:
- Hard skills - technical abilities that are best defined by your certificates, education, and experience. You could also use the dedicated skills section to list between ten and twelve technologies you're apt at using that match the job requirements.
- Soft skills - your personal traits and interpersonal communication skills that are a bit harder to quantify. Use various CV sections, e.g. summary, strengths, experience, to shine a spotlight on your workspace achievements, thanks to using particular soft skills.
Remember that your job-winning CV should balance both your hard and soft skills to prove your technical background, while spotlighting your personality.
Top skills for your designer CV:
Adobe Creative Suite
Sketching & Wireframing
UI/UX Design
Typography
Graphic Design
Web Design
Branding
3D Modelling
Animation
HTML/CSS
Creativity
Attention to Detail
Problem-Solving
Time Management
Communication
Teamwork
Critical Thinking
Adaptability
Project Management
Empathy
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Focus on describing skills in the context of the outcomes they’ve helped you achieve, linking them directly to tangible results or successes in your career.
Further professional qualifications for your designer CV: education and certificates
As you're nearing the end of your designer CV, you may wonder what else will be relevant to the role. Recruiters are keen on understanding your academic background, as it teaches you an array of hard and soft skills. Create a dedicated education section that lists your:
- applicable higher education diplomas or ones that are at a postgraduate level;
- diploma, followed up with your higher education institution and start-graduation dates;
- extracurricular activities and honours, only if you deem that recruiters will find them impressive.
Follow a similar logic when presenting your certificates. Always select ones that will support your niche expertise and hint at what it's like to work with you. Balance both technical certification with soft skills courses to answer job requirements and company values. Wondering what the most sought out certificates are for the industry? Look no further:
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Use mini case studies or success stories in your CV to demonstrate how your skills have positively impacted previous roles or projects.
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Key takeaways
Here are five things you need to remember about writing your designer CV for success:
- Sort your experience based on the reverse chronological order, starting with your most recent career items, to showcase how you've grown your career;
- Include within your CV header your relevant contact details, a headline that could spotlight your unique value, and a photo - if you're applying for roles outside the UK or US;
- Decide to use the CV summary, if you happen to have more professional experience, and an objective, if you want to showcase your career goals;
- Within the experience section, write your bullets using action verbs, skills, and success, instead of just merely listing your on-the-job responsibilities;
- Prove your technical skills, using your education and certificates, and your soft skills, with your achievements and strengths sections.
