Designer CV Examples & Guide for 2025

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.

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.

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.

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:

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:

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.

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.

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:

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.