As a graphic designer, one of the advantages of networking is that your work speaks for you. Putting your best work and expertise in front of your target audience is required. But how? Using a graphic designer resume website, as it has been done for decades. Fortunately, creating one is now easier than ever.
All you have to do is develop a digital graphic designer resume and share the website link with potential clients today. It's easy to keep it up-to-date and employ SEO keywords to get more people to find you when they do a quick Google search.
The question is, how can you construct a professional graphic design resume that catches the eye of a creative agency, a digital agency, and other key stakeholders?
Using our checklist, you'll have everything you need to build a strong designer resume. Using code-free website builders' portfolio website templates, you can create the digital resume of your choice. Your well-thought-out professional portfolio will demonstrate to potential employers why they should choose you over your competitors.
Why Do You Need a Graphic Designer Resume?
You need a mechanism to get your work out there to be successful. A resume website allows you to showcase your work as a graphic designer and make it available to the audiences you desire.
An online resume puts your work to life, unlike a standard CV static in black and white.
It is immediately apparent to potential clients and employers what distinguishes you from the rest. One of the most essential purposes of a personal resume website is to demonstrate to potential employers what level you are at as a graphic designer and the thinking that goes into your work.
A Resume Website Describes Your Skill Level
It's unlikely that most of us would walk up to a job interview with a disorganized stack of printouts to sort through. Instead, we'd have it professionally bound and assembled as a booklet.
Similarly, an online resume website works. It organizes your best work into an easy-to-navigate collection. Doing so demonstrates a sense of creativity and credibility to your work.
Credibility is another benefit of having a designer resume. For example, an employer or client could type your name into a search engine and quickly locate you. No matter how accomplished you are, having no online presence is bad for your credibility.
Every profession, from web designer to content writer, is more than just a bulleted list of skills and abilities. There is depth and detail in a graphic designer resume site. In your own words, it tells the tale of projects you're proud of and gives an insight into your thoughts and personality.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
An online resume website makes it easy for potential clients to find you in a single location. Emails with large attachments can be avoided. To see examples of your work and discover more about you, all they have to do is click on a link.
How to Create a Graphic Designer Resume Website?
Here are the factors you need to consider or steps you need to take to build a senior graphic designer resume website.
1. Choose a Suitable Code-Free Website Builder Platform
While services such as Dribbble and Behance are excellent places to showcase your work as a graphic designer and gain attention, it is highly advised that you also develop your own resume website. To create your website, you can utilize a platform such as Wix, WordPress, Strikingly, Squarespace, etc. When building a senior graphic designer resume website, it's a good idea to lean on the side of simplicity; the primary focus should be on your resume items and having too many competing aspects could be distracting.
Creative graphic design resumes can easily be created on these platforms. Some are single-page web pages, and others are multi-page resumes. This depends on how much information you want to include and how it is laid out. As you explore, decide what elements to be included in your website:
- Design a single landing page or numerous pages highlighting distinct skills
- Contact details or a comprehensive contact page with form
- Simple photo and bio, or a complete About Me page with your design philosophy
- A list of your former clients or a detailed digital résumé detailing your web design, typography, HTML, and other skills
- Testimonials
- Your social media presence
2. Market Your Name
Even if your graphic design resume website is absolutely stunning, it will be useless if no one sees it. Clients need to have some background information about the person they're considering hiring. The best way to get your name out there is to introduce yourself and tell them a bit of yourself. If you're using social media to market your business, share your graphic designer resume on those platforms.
Your designs do not alone reflect your individuality. This includes the words you use to represent yourself and your work, the typefaces and colors you employ, your profile or other photographs, and other small details. You're marketing yourself as much as your work. Therefore include yourself liberally in your resume.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
3. Show Your Best Work as a Case Study
Case studies are present in every one of the creative graphic design resumes on the internet. These are particularly critical if you're just starting out as a graphic designer and don't have a large body of work. Consider selecting around 10-15 designs to assist in visually defining your design style and skills. Shortlist them and find the perfect piece. Make a strong first impression by showcasing only your most outstanding work. Quality is more important than quantity.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Even if you're a new freelancer, you've probably improved your design skills. It is not a visual autobiography of previous design ventures. Examine your curated work again. Do all of your chosen photographs represent your desired style? The same goes for the design styles you prefer. Show potential prospects your creative range in your graphic designer resume.
4. The Not-For-Sale Exhibition
Create an artwork that you can showpiece as a not-for-sale exhibition item. This is a fantastic method to attract potential clients who want you to do the work you like or enjoy the most. This way, you can exercise your creative muscles and attract more of the assignments you genuinely desire to work on as projects. In a graphic designer resume website, these exhibition items can help your clients understand your personality as a graphic designer and what kind of creativity and skill you can bring. To put it another way, create a masterpiece that details your creativity and includes many supporting points to demonstrate the breadth of your efforts.
5. Provide Testimonials to Authenticate Your Work
In freelancing and online earning, your marketplace reputation can make or break a client's decision to hire you. Testimonials make you appear more trustworthy to a potential client who has never met you before. You may have an excellent graphic designer resume website, but clients may prefer to work with someone who has more positive reviews about their working experience compared to you. As a beginner graphic designer, you may want to try doing some unpaid or reduced work in exchange for a positive review from a potential client. A well-written testimonial can have a long-term impact.
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Until now, you must have understood what a graphic designer resume website is, why it’s needed to advance your career as an online earner and how to make a professional graphic design resume website. It's time for you to see some samples of designer resume websites to get more inspiration and drive.
Graphic Designer Resume Website Examples
Below are a few good designer resume examples.
∙ Kati Forner
Image taken from Kati Former.
Kati Forner is a full-service creative agency with a clean, modern, and playful portfolio of graphic design work. The homepage is characterized by a huge font, large graphics, and subtle animations, among other things. With full-width mockups and just the appropriate amount of text to provide context and insight into the design process, each project page contains a complete case study with full-width mockups. The modern and funky style of this website speaks volumes of the skill and creativity of the artists working for it.
∙ Look Look Studio
Image taken from Look Look Studio.
Look Look Studio is a digital design studio with a straightforward but highly effective graphic design resume website to showcase their work. Above the fold, you can see a large-type introduction to the studio's mission and vision. As you scroll down, you come upon a nice, 2-column grid of portfolio work. Each project page includes an overview of the project and a plethora of pictures that provide a detailed look into the studio's work and working process.
∙ Rosa Villa
Image taken from Strikingly user’s website
Rosa Villa is a graphic designer resume created on Strikingly. Since Strikingly is a rising website building platform, it offers several unique tools and features to ease the process of web development for its users. It provides many ready-to-use templates, including one used on this website. The templates can be customized to a certain extent, such as adjusting the color scheme to match your visual branding elements.
If you also want to build a graphic designer resume to showcase your skills and services, you can do so for free by signing up on Strikingly. Our editor is very user-friendly, and most of the tools are self-explanatory. The platform does not require you to write any code to build a complete, professional-looking website.
Get started with your graphic designing career today by creating your own graphic designer resume on Strikingly.
