Creative Graphic Design Resumes

In Graphic Design, by Jennifer Moline, October 12, 2010

In the “days of yore” we typed resumes and ran down to the local office supply store with the new marvel a fax machine. Within minutes our typed paper was in a fax machine tray in another city and an hour or two later we received a call to come in for an interview the next day.

Today, it is not only a new century but we are staring at 10% unemployment. We are in an environment of companies adding work loads to existing employees rather than hiring because of the uncertainty in the business world. The lines are increasing at the unemployment office as fast as resumes are collecting on the desks of the graphic design manager’s desk.

So it is out with the old and in with something unique, eye-catching and pointed to sell yourself to the employer by a fireworks’ display of who you are. There are three spotlight elements that your graphic design resume must include in order to pop out from the resume pile.

General Element Spotlight

Spotlight Personal & Professional Profile
Spotlight Applicable Experience
Spotlight Your Work

Employers are interested in a personal as well as professional profile so save them some time and list your existing blog and Facebook profile page. Do not list everything that you have done in the past two to four decades because it may not have anything to do with your new job. Research the company and find out something specific that links you and the company. To spotlight your work, show rather than tell.

Specific Element Building Blocks

Be Creative with Your Timeline

You can demonstrate your career journey with a graphic rather than a collection of words. The one look graphic design could be:

A ladder (each rung represents your climb in the corporate world)
A fortress (each row of bricks was a year, a job, a new skill)

Utilize Color, Shapes, Concepts to Divide & Conquer Information

A maze with colored-coordinated blocks can creatively lead the reader quickly through the years, the jobs and the acquisition of skills. The collection of colors must be pleasing with pop that calls for a double-take. Use a variety of fonts and shapes but allow them to all flow together so the right person in the right department will be able, in one glance, to be impressed and informed.

Showcase a Collection of Your Skills with Graphic Design

If you are good at freehand drawing, then showcase in one sector of your graphic design resume of hobbies and awards received.
If you are particularly organized, showcase a graphic design of Rolodex cards listing personal and professional references.
If you are proficient in multiple graphic design software, create a graphic design bar by the software emblem showing your level of proficiency from one to ten in each one.

Market yourself in a non-traditional fashion to stand out from the sea of resume documents which businesses are flipping through. Show rather than tell with a graphic design fit for a king.