Design and creative

Graphic designer CV: example and template

This example is for graphic designers at advertising agencies, marketing departments, print shops, publishers and design studios, for freelancers and for graphic design graduates.

A portfolio shows how you design. A CV shows for whom, at what scale and with what effect. Below is an example that brings the two together.

Create your CV in the builder See the example

Example CV: graphic designer

All the details in this example are fictional. Treat it as a model of layout and wording, and replace the content with your own experience.

Kamila Pawlak

Graphic designer, visual identity

Gdansk +48 123 456 789 kamila.pawlak@example.com Portfolio: behance.net/example-designer

Professional profile

Graphic designer with 6 years of experience at an advertising agency and a marketing department. I design visual identities, print materials and social media campaigns, and prepare files for production. I work in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Figma and keep the brand consistent in every channel.

Work experience

Graphic designer, senior graphic designer

05.2021 - present

Advertising agency, Gdansk

Visual identities for 12 brands: logo, brand book, company materials.
Social media campaigns: about 60 graphics a month in brand templates.
Print projects: catalogues, packaging, roll-up banners, preparing files for the printer.
A new template system for a retail client that halved the time to prepare graphics.
Presenting concepts to clients and making revisions.

Junior graphic designer

09.2019 – 04.2021

Marketing department of a manufacturing company, Gdynia

Leaflets, posters and trade fair materials.
Graphics for the newsletter and website.
Simple animations for social media.

Education

Bachelor's degree, graphic design

2016 – 2019

Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk

Skills

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
Figma
Visual identity and branding
Layout and print preparation (DTP)
Typography
Animation basics (After Effects)

Courses and certificates

Interface design in Figma course, 2023
Typography workshop, 2021

Languages

English: B2

Additional information

Packaging design commended in an industry competition, 2022

I hereby consent to the processing of my personal data for the purposes necessary to carry out the recruitment process, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 (GDPR).

How to write a graphic designer CV

Professional summary

Write what you specialise in (branding, print, digital, UI, illustration, motion), which clients you work for and which software you use. Put the portfolio link next to your contact details, not at the end of the document.

Digital graphic designer with 3 years of experience in e-commerce. I design banners, product graphics and ad campaigns, working in Photoshop and Figma. I adapt quickly to brand guidelines and work to short campaign deadlines.

Experience: duties and achievements

Instead of "designing graphics", write what you designed, for which brands or industries, at what scale and with what effect. The effect could be a higher click-through rate, shorter production time or an award.

Weaker: Designing logos and materials.

Better: Visual identities for 12 brands: logo, brand book and company materials.

Weaker: Social media graphics.

Better: About 60 graphics a month in brand templates for 4 clients.

Weaker: Improving the workflow.

Better: A template system that halved the time to prepare campaign graphics.

Skills worth listing

List software with the extent you use it. Design skills, such as typography or working with a grid, matter as much as tools.

Professional skills

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
Figma, interface design basics
Branding and visual identity
Typography and composition
DTP and preparing print files
Animation and video basics

Personal skills

Understanding the brief and the business goal
Presenting and defending concepts
Taking feedback and making revisions
Organising work across many projects
Attention to detail

Graphic designer CV with no experience

At the start, your portfolio matters most. Show projects from your studies, competitions and your own work, for example an identity for an invented brand or a redesign of an existing project. Describe the brief and your process next to each.

Add internships, jobs for companies you know and volunteering for organisations. On your CV, list the software you really know.

Tailoring your CV to the job offer

An agency looks for a broad skill set and working under time pressure, a marketing department for looking after the brand in every channel, a print shop for preparing files for production, and a tech company for interface design. For each application, choose matching projects in your portfolio.

Can a graphic designer's CV be creative?

It can, because the CV itself is a sample of your skills. But keep it readable: hierarchy, typography and composition should help, not get in the way. Some companies use systems that read text from the file, so the content should be plain text, not an image. See also the artistic CV template.

The most common mistakes on a graphic designer CV

No portfolio link, or a portfolio with random work.
A CV so decorative that the experience is hard to find.
CV content saved as an image that cannot be read or searched.
A long list of software with no information about what you do in it.
Showing client projects that may not be published.

Questions and answers

What should a graphic designer put on a CV?

Your specialism, projects with industries or brand names, software, design skills, education and a portfolio link. Add the scale and effect for each project.

Should a graphic designer CV be in English?

If you are looking for work at an international agency or clients abroad, prepare an English version of your CV and portfolio.

How many projects should a portfolio show?

Usually 8 to 15 of your best projects is enough. Fewer is better if they match the role, with a short description of the brief and your part in it.

Create a graphic designer CV in the builder

In the CV Majster builder you enter your details step by step and see right away what the document looks like. You can copy the wording from this page and adapt it to yourself. The finished CV as a PDF costs a one-off PLN 5, with no subscription, and you see the preview before you pay.

Go to the CV builder