Visual Designer Resume Example & Writing Guide

Visual designers are a critical part of any successful design team. They use their creativity and artistic talent to create the look and feel of a product or service—and help define its brand identity.

Visual designers often work on everything from websites and mobile apps to marketing materials and print ads. They’re also involved in everything from brainstorming sessions to user testing. And because they play such a big role in shaping how people experience a company or brand, visual designers often have a lot of influence over the direction of an organization.

If you love creating beautiful things and want to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where you can make an impact, then you might be ready to become a visual designer yourself. But before you can land your dream job, you need a resume that showcases your talents. Here are some tips to follow plus an example for reference when writing yours.

How to Write a Visual Designer Resume

Here’s how to write a visual designer resume of your own.

Write Compelling Bullet Points

When it comes to visual resumes, it’s all about the details. Bullet points are a great way to showcase your experience, but they’re not enough on their own. You also need to provide specific examples of your work.

For example, rather than saying you “designed infographics,” you could say that you “designed infographics for client-facing website that increased traffic by 15% in first month.”

The second bullet point provides more detail about the project itself as well as the outcome. It also provides a quantifiable result—something that’s always a good idea when you’re trying to make a strong case for yourself.

Related: What Is a Visual Designer? How to Become One

Identify and Include Relevant Keywords

When you apply for a visual designer role, your resume is likely to be scanned by an applicant tracking system (ATS) for certain keywords. This system looks for certain terms like “graphic design” and “photoshop” in order to determine whether your skills and experience are a match for the job you’ve applied to. If you don’t have enough relevant keywords on your resume, the ATS might automatically reject your application.

To make sure this doesn’t happen, make sure to include relevant keywords throughout all sections of your resume. Here are some common visual designer keywords to get you started:

Showcase Your Technical Skills

As a visual designer, you rely on your skills in design software to create mockups, illustrations, and other visuals that help communicate your ideas. That’s why it’s important to list your technical skills prominently on your resume. By doing so, you’ll show that you’re a valuable candidate who is familiar with the essential tools and systems used in your field.

Recruiters are looking for visual designers who are proficient in specific design software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. They also want to see that you have experience with specific design methodologies, such as user-centered design and agile design. So be sure to list all of your relevant technical skills prominently on your resume.

Related: How Much Does a Visual Designer Make?

Remember The Basics

As you’re writing your resume, you’ll want to keep a few basic guidelines in mind.

Make Your Resume Easy to Scan

There are a few things you can do to your resume to make it easier to read and understand quickly. Aligning everything to the left, using a standard font type and size, and keeping bullets under 2 lines will help make your resume more skimmable. You should also try to leave some white space on the page to help the recruiter easily scan through your information.

Be Concise

There is no set length for a resume, but a one-page resume is the preferred option for recent graduates and those early in their careers. If you have a lot of experience to include, you may need to go over one page, but be selective about the information you include. When in doubt, less is more.

Check Your Work

Proofreading your resume is essential to ensure that it looks its best. There are a few key things to watch for: spelling mistakes, punctuation mistakes, and grammatical mistakes. You should also be aware of easily confused words, such as their/there/they’re and to/too/two. Spell checking your resume is a good start, but you should also have someone else proofread it for you to catch any mistakes that you may have missed.

Consider a Summary

When you’re putting together your resume, it’s important to include a summary statement to introduce yourself and give context to your experience. This is a great opportunity to show off your best skills and traits, and to let potential employers know what you’re hoping to do next. A well-written summary can help to pique the interest of recruiters and hiring managers, and can set you apart from the competition.

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