A fictional person: the names, employers and numbers are invented.
Jamie Reid
Graphic Designer · Brand identity, print and digital
Brighton, UKjamie.reid@example.comPortfolio: Behance · 12 case studies
Summary
Graphic designer with six years across a branding studio and an in-house marketing team. Builds identities that hold together from a shop sign to an Instagram story, prepares print files that pass pre-press first time and works quickly in Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma. Led a rebrand that lifted repeat bookings by 24% for a regional theatre group.
Experience
Graphic Designer · Saltmarsh Studio, Brighton
2022 – Present
Lead designer on 9 brand identities for hospitality and arts clients, from logo and type system to signage and social templates.
Rebranded a three-venue theatre group; season brochure, website graphics and posters launched together and repeat bookings rose 24% in the first year.
Created a print checklist and preflight routine that cut reprints from roughly one a month to two a year.
Present concepts directly to clients and manage two rounds of feedback per project, keeping 90% of jobs within the quoted hours.
Designed packaging for 40+ products and the twice-yearly print catalogue (64 pages, 30,000 copies).
Produced 25–30 social and email graphics a week; a new template set cut turnaround from two days to same-day.
Built the first brand guidelines document, adopted by the marketing team and two external agencies.
Freelance Designer · Self-employed, Brighton
2019 – 2020
Logos, menus and event posters for 15 local businesses, mostly through referrals.
Delivered print-ready artwork with bleed, CMYK conversion and Pantone matching for local printers.
Education
BA (Hons) Graphic Design · University of Brighton
2016 – 2019
Shortlisted for a student award in editorial design.
Skills
Software
Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, After Effects, Figma
Craft
brand identity, typography, layout and editorial, packaging
Production
print pre-press, CMYK and Pantone, large-format signage, digital asset export
Languages
English — Native
Additional information
Runs a yearly free poster workshop for sixth-form art students (2021 – Present).
Three summary options
Start from the one closest to where you are now.
Recent graduate
Graphic design graduate with a strong typography portfolio and a summer placement at a packaging agency. Designed labels for a craft drinks range now stocked in 60 shops and learned to prepare files that printers accept first time. Looking for a junior studio role with real client work.
Senior designer
Senior graphic designer with ten years in agency branding. Leads identity projects from strategy workshop to rollout, art-directs photographers and illustrators, and manages two mid-weight designers. Recent work includes a national retail rebrand delivered across 140 stores on time and on budget.
Digital-first designer
Graphic designer focused on digital campaigns, motion and social content. Produces animated ads in After Effects and templates in Figma for a fast-moving e-commerce team, and tests creative with the performance marketers. A refreshed ad set lifted click-through by 31% in one quarter.
Keywords to include
Use the ones that are true for you, inside real sentences.
Brand identity
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe Illustrator
InDesign
Typography
Layout design
Print production
Packaging design
Brand guidelines
Social media graphics
What recruiters look for
Tips for this role, with the kind of numbers that count.
Let the CV point to the portfolio
A design CV is a map to your best work, not a replacement for it. Name the two or three projects a reader should open first and keep the portfolio to around a dozen strong case studies rather than everything you have ever made.
Describe briefs, not just deliverables
"Designed posters" could mean anything. "Rebranded a three-venue theatre group across print, web and social" shows scale, range and responsibility. Mention the client type, the channels and your role on the team.
Add numbers where design moved them
Designers can quote results too: bookings, sales, click-through, sign-ups or fewer reprints. If the client shared a figure, use it — "repeat bookings rose 24%". If not, quantify output, such as 40 packaging lines or 30 graphics a week.
Prove you can handle print
Studios still lose money on bad print files. Mention pre-press, bleed, CMYK and Pantone work, large-format jobs and print runs. A line such as "cut reprints to two a year" reassures a creative director straight away.
Keep the CV itself easy to scan
Show taste through spacing and type, not decoration. Avoid text inside images, skill bars and unusual fonts, which recruiting software may not read. One clean column with clear headings is safer and still looks designed.
Show you can take feedback
Hiring managers ask how you handle clients. A bullet about presenting concepts, managing feedback rounds or keeping 90% of jobs within quoted hours shows you can be trusted with a client without a senior in the room.
Make this CV yours
Answer one question at a time; the assistant fills each section and never invents numbers.
Is a portfolio link or an attached PDF portfolio better?
Send a link when the application form allows it and keep a compact PDF of six to eight projects ready for agencies that ask. Large attachments are often blocked by email filters, so keep a PDF under about 10 MB and make the link work without a login.
How should I list freelance work alongside employed jobs?
Group it under one entry such as "Freelance designer" with the years, then name the types of clients and two or three highlights. If one freelance project is your best work, give it its own case study in the portfolio and mention it in the summary.
Should a graphic designer include soft skills on a CV?
Show them in your bullets rather than listing them. Presenting to clients, running feedback rounds, briefing printers and working to tight deadlines are exactly the soft skills studios hire for, and a concrete example makes them believable.
