10 Freelance Graphic Designer Resume Examples for 2024

Discover effective resume tips and examples tailored for freelance graphic designers. Learn how to highlight your skills, showcase your portfolio, and optimize your resume to appeal to potential clients. This guide will help you craft a strong resume to boost your freelance career.

  Compiled and approved by Liz Bowen
  Last updated on See history of changes

  Next update scheduled for

At a Glance

Here's what we see in the best resumes for freelance graphic designer roles.

  • Show Impact With Numbers: The best resumes show results using numbers. They mention metrics common in this industry like project completion time, reduced customer revisions, increased user engagement, and cost savings.

  • Include Relevant Skills: Include skills on your resume that you have and are mentioned on the job description. Some popular ones are Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, UI/UX design, branding, typography. Choose the ones you have and are mentioned in the JD.

  • Showcase A Diverse Portfolio: Highlight a variety of projects. Employers like seeing logos, websites, social media graphics, and print materials in your portfolio to gauge versatility.

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Position your education

As a freelance graphic designer, your creativity and skills must shine through immediately. If your educational background includes specialized training in graphic design, such as a degree in design or certifications in key design software, position this information prominently when it offers strong support for the skills you bring to the table. This is valuable for those new to the field or if you've recently acquired new qualifications that enhance your capacity as a designer.

For those with established experience, list education after your professional experience, focusing on relevance and recency. Here, education serves to complement the practical skills you've proven on the job. Remember to include only post-secondary education unless your high school experience has direct relevance to your graphic design work, like specialized courses or certifications acquired during that time.

Portfolio inclusion

Always include a link to your portfolio. This gives employers a direct way to see your work and style.

Highlight specific projects that show your range and expertise, like branding, web design, or illustration. Tailor your portfolio to the job you're applying for.

Ideal resume length

As a hiring manager, you should know that for a freelance graphic designer, a one-page resume is often enough. Here you can should show your best work and the skills that match the job you want. You need to show that you can choose what matters most, which is a good skill for a designer to have. If you have been working for more than 10 years, you might need two pages. But still, keep it clear and to the point.

Make sure the layout of your resume makes it easy to read. If you find your resume is too long, consider removing older work or less important details. You might also change the resume design. Remember, even a longer resume will only get a quick look at first. So keep your strongest points on the first page. This way, the hiring manager will see your best side right away. Avoid small fonts and margins that are hard to read. It's better to have a good, clear resume than to cram too much into it.

Show technical skills

List your design software skills clearly. Tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, and Figma are important in graphic design roles.

Include any certifications you've earned in these software tools. This can set you apart from other candidates.

Bypassing resume screeners

Many companies use Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to filter resumes before they reach a hiring manager. As a freelance graphic designer, you need to ensure your resume is ATS-friendly to improve your chances of it being seen by human eyes.

Here are two ways to make your resume stand out:

  • Include relevant keywords from the job description, such as 'Adobe Creative Suite,' 'branding,' or 'visual design.' ATS often scans for specific terms related to the job.
  • Use a clean, simple layout with standard fonts and clear headings. Complex designs or unusual fonts can confuse the ATS and cause your resume to be overlooked.

Remember, the goal is to show you are a good fit for the role. By tailoring your resume to pass the ATS, you increase your chances of getting to the interview stage.

Highlight your design skills

To get the job you want as a freelance designer, make sure you show skills that match what clients need. Pick out the most important design jobs you've done. Share how your work helped your past clients.

  • List the design software you're good at, like Adobe Creative Suite or Sketch.
  • Show work that fits the job. If it's web design, share links to websites you've made.
  • Include numbers. Talk about how many projects you've finished or how you improved a client's business.

Key skills for freelance designers

When creating your resume as a freelance graphic designer, it's important to highlight the technical skills and tools you're proficient in. Here's a list of skills you should consider including if they apply to your experience:

  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Sketch
  • InVision
  • HTML/CSS
  • UX/UI Design
  • Typography
  • Branding
  • Print Design
  • Photography
  • Illustration

Choose the skills that show your strengths in the areas you want to work in. For example, if you're aiming for web design projects, HTML/CSS and UX/UI Design are critical to include. Place these skills in a dedicated section on your resume to ensure they're easily seen by hiring managers and applicant tracking systems (ATS), which scan for relevant keywords.

Remember, you don't need to list every skill you have—only those that are most relevant to the freelance work you're seeking. Also, if you have a strong project or work sample that demonstrates a particular skill, include that in a separate portfolio section or provide a link on your resume.

Show impact with numbers

As a graphic designer, your resume should show your impact through clear metrics. Numbers help employers see the value you bring. Here are ways to include them:

  • Highlight any growth in client engagement you've achieved through your designs by showing percentage increases in social media interactions or website traffic.
  • Illustrate time savings you've provided by optimizing design processes, perhaps shortening project turnaround times by a certain percentage.

Think about your past work. Have you helped a client increase their sales? If so, quantify this success. For instance, you might say you designed a product packaging that led to a 20% rise in sales. Or maybe your promotional materials helped attract a large audience to an event, resulting in a 30% larger attendance than previous years.

  • Consider efficiency improvements you've implemented. Maybe you reduced the time to create graphics by 15%, which allowed for faster campaign rollouts.
  • Reflect on any cost reductions achieved through your work, like negotiating better printing fees or using more cost-effective materials, resulting in a 10% budget cut.

Remember, even if you're unsure of exact figures, estimate your impact as best you can. Think about the before and after of your projects. Use numbers to tell a story of improvement and success.

Tailoring to company size

When you apply for graphic design work, your resume should reflect the type of company you're targeting. For small companies like boutique design firms, show how you can wear multiple hats and adapt quickly. For larger corporations such as Adobe or IBM, highlight your ability to work within brand guidelines and contribute to large-scale projects.

Here is what you might include:

  • For a small company: 'Managed complete design projects from concept to completion for local businesses.'
  • For a big company: 'Collaborated with marketing teams to ensure brand consistency across digital campaigns for global audiences.'
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