One specific CV challenge you might encounter as a digital designer is effectively showcasing your diverse range of skills and projects in a concise manner. Our guide provides structured advice and practical examples to help you highlight your most compelling work, ensuring that your CV stands out to potential employers.
- Create an attention-grabbing header that integrates keywords and includes all vital information;
- Add strong action verbs and skills in your experience section, and get inspired by real-world professionals;
- List your education and relevant certification to fill in the gaps in your career history;
- Integrate both hard and soft skills all through your CV.
Discover more industry-specific guides to help you apply for any role in the links below:
Formatting your digital designer CV to meet the role expectations
Staring at the blank page for hours on end, you still have no idea how you should start your professional digital designer CV. Should you include more colours, two columns, and which sections? What you should remember about your CV format is this - ensure it's minimalistic and doesn't go over the top with fancy fonts and many colours. Instead, focus on writing consistent content that actually answers the job requirements. But, how about the design itself :- Use the reverse chronological order to showcase your experience, starting with your most recent role;
- Include your contact details (email address, phone number, and location) - and potentially your professional photo - in the header;
- Must-have CV sections include summary or objective, experience, education, and skills: curate the ones that fit your profile;
- Your professional digital designer CV should be between one-to-two pages long: select the longer format if you have more experience.
A little bit more about your actual CV design, ensure you're using:
- plenty of serif or sans serif font (e.g. Montserrat, Exo 2, Volkhov) as they are Applicant Tracker System (ATS) compliant. Avoid the likes of Arial and Times New Roman because most candidates' CVs are in this typography.
When submitting your CV, are you still not sure what format it should be? Despite the myth that has been circling around, most modern ATS systems are perfectly capable of reading PDFs. This format is an excellent choice as it keeps all of your information intact.
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For certain fields, consider including infographics or visual elements to represent skills or achievements, but ensure they are simple, professional, and enhance rather than clutter the information.
The top sections on a digital designer CV
- Profile summary showcases your design philosophy.
- Work experience highlights relevant digital design roles.
- Design portfolio link displays actual project work.
- Technical skills section shows your design tool proficiency.
- Education and certifications reflect formal qualifications.
What recruiters value on your CV:
- Highlight your design portfolio by providing a link to your personal website or online portfolio platform, showcasing a variety of your best work, including websites, apps, and digital campaigns.
- Demonstrate your proficiency with design software and technologies by listing your expertise with tools such as Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, Figma, and any relevant prototyping or animation software.
- Include any relevant industry-specific knowledge, such as UX/UI design principles, responsive design, and an understanding of user-centric approaches, to show insight into user experience and engagement.
- Document your collaborative experiences by mentioning projects where you have worked with cross-functional teams including developers, marketers, and product managers, highlighting your communication and teamwork skills.
- Elaborate on your problem-solving skills by including specific design challenges you have overcome, explaining the outcomes and the design thinking processes applied to those challenges.
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How to present your contact details and job keywords in your digital designer CV header
Located at the top of your digital designer CV, the header presents recruiters with your key personal information, headline, and professional photo. When creating your CV header, include your:
- Contact details - avoid listing your work email or telephone number and, also, email addresses that sound unprofessional (e.g. koolKittyCat$3@gmail.com is definitely a big no);
- Headline - it should be relevant, concise, and specific to the role you're applying for, integrating keywords and action verbs;
- Photo - instead of including a photograph from your family reunion, select one that shows you in a more professional light. It's also good to note that in some countries (e.g. the UK and US), it's best to avoid photos on your CV as they may serve as bias.
What do other industry professionals include in their CV header? Make sure to check out the next bit of your guide to see real-life examples:
Examples of good CV headlines for digital designer:
- Senior UI/UX Designer | Human-Centred Design | Adobe XD Mastery | 8+ Years of Creative Solutions
- Lead Graphic Artist | Visual Branding Expert | Certified Photoshop Pro | Illustration & Marketing Savvy
- Junior Web Designer | HTML/CSS/JS Enthusiast | Degree in Digital Media | Innovative & User-Focused
- Senior Digital Illustrator | Concept Art Specialist | BA in Graphic Design | 10 Years Industry Experience
- Principal Interaction Designer | User Research & Prototyping | MA Interaction Design | 12 Years Leading Teams
- Mid-Level Motion Graphics Designer | Animation & 3D Expert | After Effects Certified | 5 Years Agency Experience
Choosing your opening statement: a digital designer CV summary or objective
At the top one third of your CV, you have the chance to make a more personable impression on recruiters by selecting between:
- Summary - or those three to five sentences that you use to show your greatest achievements. Use the CV summary if you happen to have plenty of relevant experience and wish to highlight your greatest successes;
- Objective - provides you with up to five sentences to state your professional aims and mission in the company you're applying for
CV summaries for a digital designer job:
- Enthusiastic Digital Designer with over 6 years of experience, skilled in Adobe Creative Suite and UX/UI principles. Successfully implemented a company-wide rebranding, increasing customer engagement by 30%. Adept at creating compelling digital content that enhances brand visibility.
- Transitioning Graphic Designer with a rich 8-year background in print media, rapidly adapting into digital design. Mastery of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, complimented by recent certifications in web design and interactive media from General Assembly.
- Former Marketing Specialist making a strategic career shift to Digital Design, bringing comprehensive knowledge of market trends and digital storytelling. Proficient with Adobe XD and Sketch, currently refining skills in HTML5 and CSS3 through intensive bootcamp training.
- Highly creative Digital Designer with a decade’s tenure crafting visual designs that resonate with users. Paramount achievement includes leading a visual campaign that led to a 45% increase in online traffic. Expert in wireframing, prototyping, and video editing.
- Passionate learner eager to delve into the field of Digital Design, seeking to apply my artistic talent and fresh knowledge from a BA in Visual Arts, including introductory courses in graphic design softwares such as Adobe Suite and CorelDRAW.
- Recent Fine Arts graduate determined to translate my visual composition skills into a flourishing career in Digital Design. Brimming with fresh ideas and a foundation in Adobe Creative Cloud, eager to further develop my skills in a practical setting, surrounded by industry experts.
Narrating the details of your digital designer CV experience section
Perhaps you've heard it time and time again, but, how you present your experience is what matters the most. Your CV experience section - that details your work history alongside your accomplishments - is the space to spotlight your unqiue expertise and talents. So, avoid solely listing your responsibilities, but instead:
- adverts' keywords and integrate those in your experience section;
- Use your CV to detail how you've been promoted in the past by including experience in the reverse chronological order.
Before you start writing your digital designer CV experience section, dive into some industry-leading examples on how to structure your bullets.
Best practices for your CV's work experience section
- Highlight your proficiency in design software such as Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, and Figma, showcasing your ability to bring creative ideas to life through digital mediums.
- Detail the range of projects you've worked on, such as website designs, mobile app interfaces, and interactive media, to demonstrate your versatility and adaptability.
- Emphasise your understanding of user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) principles, mentioning any coursework or practical experience in creating user-centred designs.
- Include measurable achievements, such as increased user engagement or improved conversion rates, to illustrate the impact of your design solutions on project objectives.
- Discuss collaborative projects to highlight your ability to work as part of a team, interfacing with developers, marketers, and product managers to create a cohesive product vision.
- Present your experience in responsive design, noting how you have crafted seamless experiences across different devices and screen sizes.
- Mention any experience you have working with brand identity and style guides, ensuring design consistency and adherence to brand standards across digital assets.
- Exhibit your project management skills, detailing how you have efficiently managed timelines, resources, and deliverables on multiple design projects.
- Describe instances where you’ve used data and analytics to inform your design decisions, highlighting your ability to blend creativity with practical insights.
- Led design projects that increased user engagement by 25% for our main product through the integration of video and interactive elements.
- Mentored a team of 5 junior designers, improving departmental productivity by 40% and reducing project turnaround time.
- Spearheaded the rebranding initiative that resulted in a 35% increase in brand recognition in our target market within the first year.
- Designed and deployed an e-commerce website for a major retail client, boosting their sales by 50% in the first six months.
- Collaborated on a cross-functional team to develop a mobile app that won 'Best UX Design' at a national technology conference.
- Created over 200 custom graphics and animations for social media marketing campaigns, which increased client customer following by 20%.
- Led the user interface redesign for a popular fitness tracking app, leading to a 15% increase in daily active users.
- Developed user-centered design principles that reduced customer service calls by 10% through improved navigability and accessibility.
- Organized quarterly workshops on emerging design trends, keeping the design team ahead of industry standards and improving project innovation.
- Designed and implemented a digital marketing campaign for a startup that resulted in a 120% increase in leads within the first quarter.
- Utilized A/B testing to improve landing page conversion rates by 30%, directly impacting the company’s bottom line.
- Led a workshop on Adobe Creative Suite efficiency that improved the team’s workflow by reducing time spent on each design by 25%.
- Developed a comprehensive visual identity for a new tech startup, which became a cornerstone of their brand strategy.
- Implemented video content strategy that increased website visit duration by 40% and helped in retaining customers.
- Successfully managed a team of designers for a large-scale digital advertising campaign with a budget exceeding £200,000.
- Oversaw the digital design language for international marketing campaigns across 10 countries, aligning with global branding strategies and increasing market penetration by 20%.
- Launched an augmented reality campaign that went viral, achieving 5 million views, enhancing customer interaction, and boosting social media shares by 70%.
- Managed and prioritised design workload across multiple projects, ensuring all deadlines were met without compromising on the quality of work.
- Pioneered an innovative digital exhibition that received prestigious design awards and featured in numerous industry publications.
- Integrated user feedback into design iterations, reducing user interface clutter by 50% and enhancing the average session time by 100%.
- Leveraged new VR technology to create immersive brand experiences that increased customer engagement and expanded digital content reach by 30%.
- Redesigned a mobile application interface for a leading bank, which led to a 40% improvement in user satisfaction as measured by customer feedback.
- Initiated and led a user experience overhaul for an online news portal, resulting in a 60% increase in subscription rates.
- Coordinated with software development teams to ensure aesthetic coherence and usability across multiple platforms, decreasing user drop-off rates by 20%.
Swapping your professional experience (when you have none) with skills and more
Never underestimate the importance of relevancе when it comes to your digital designer CV. Even if you don't happen to have much or any standard (full-time contract) professional experience, this doesn't mean you shouldn't apply for the role. Instead of a bespoke CV experience section:
- Showcase more prominently any internships, part-time roles, and volunteer experience that are applicable to the role and have taught you job-crucial skills;
- Feature a strengths or achievements section with your transferrable skills or talents you've obtained thanks to your work or life experience;
- Write an objective statement that clearly outlines your values as a candidate and defines your career ambitions;
- List your education or certificates that match the job profile closer to the top of your CV.
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If you have experience in diverse fields, highlight how this has broadened your perspective and skill set, making you a more versatile candidate.
Describing your unique skill set using both hard skills and soft skills
Your digital designer CV provides you with the perfect opportunity to spotlight your talents, and at the same time - to pass any form of assessment. Focusing on your skill set across different CV sections is the way to go, as this would provide you with an opportunity to quantify your achievements and successes. There's one common, very simple mistake, which candidates tend to make at this stage. Short on time, they tend to hurry and mess up the spelling of some of the key technologies, skills, and keywords. Copy and paste the particular skill directly from the job requirement to your CV to pass the Applicant Tracker System (ATS) assessment. Now, your CV skills are divided into:
- Technical or hard skills, describing your comfort level with technologies (software and hardware). List your aptitude by curating your certifications, on the work success in the experience section, and technical projects. Use the dedicated skills section to provide recruiters with up to twelve technologies, that match the job requirements, and you're capable of using.
- People or soft skills provide you with an excellent background to communicate, work within a team, solve problems. Don't just copy-paste that you're a "leader" or excel at "analysis". Instead, provide tangible metrics that define your success inusing the particular skill within the strengths, achievements, summary/ objective sections.
Top skills for your digital designer CV:
Adobe Creative Suite
Sketch
UI/UX Design
Prototyping
Graphic Design
Web Design
Motion Graphics
HTML/CSS
Typography
Branding
Creativity
Attention to Detail
Communication
Problem-Solving
Time Management
Collaboration
Adaptability
Empathy
Passion for Design
Client Management
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Order your skills based on the relevance to the role you're applying for, ensuring the most pertinent skills catch the employer's attention first.
CV education and certificates: your academic background as proof of your skill set
A common misconception about your digital designer CV education is that you only need it, if you have less professional experience. That is completely false. The CV education section serves to back up your technical (and sometimes personal) capabilities, fill in gaps in your work history, and show you have the initial industry background and know-how. When creating your education section:
- List your degrees in the reverse chronological order, starting with the most recent (and relevant) ones first;
- Include your degree and university names, start and graduation dates. It's optional to also denote you received a "First-Class Honours" for diplomas that are more relevant to the role;
- Curate your relevant university coursework, projects, or thesis work if you happen to have less professional expertise and need to integrate more job keywords and skills.
Your professional qualifications don't need to stop at your academic background. It's advisable to also select up to three of your most noteworthy (and relevant) industry certificates and feature them in a dedicated section. Once more, include the certificate name, the institution that issued it out, and the date you obtained it on. You could feature both hard skills and soft skills certificates, as in the examples below:
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If you have received professional endorsements or recommendations for certain skills, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, mention these to add credibility.
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Key takeaways
Write your professional digital designer CV by studying and understanding what the role expectations are. You should next:
- Focus on tailoring your content to answer specific requirements by integrating advert keywords through various CV sections;
- Balance your technical know-how with your personal skills to showcase what the unique value would be of working with you;
- Ensure your CV grammar and spelling (especially of your key information and contact details) is correct;
- Write a CV summary, if your experience is relevant, and an objective, if your career ambitions are more impressive;
- Use active language by including strong, action verbs across your experience, summary/objective, achievements sections.
