Graphic Design Skills
Boost your career with these essential graphic design skills for your resume based on our database of over 10 million real job listings.
Get your free resume reportWhether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting, these skills are integral to showcasing your potential and advancing your career.
How we got the data
The data in this report was pulled from Jobscan’s database of more than 10 million job descriptions and 17 million resumes.
We analyzed the job descriptions to find the skills that employers want the most. Then we analyzed the resumes to see which skills appeared most frequently.
Armed with this knowledge, job seekers can easily tailor their resumes and cover letters to highlight the most relevant skills for each job they apply to.
top 10 graphic design Hard Skills
top 10 graphic design Soft Skills
top 10 graphic design Skills on Resume with High Match Rate
- Creative
- Adobe
- Marketing
- Photoshop
- Graphic Design
- Indesign
- Social Media
- Communication
- Graphics
- Professional
Top 10 graphic design skills
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Conceptualized and executed original designs for various marketing campaigns.
- Implemented creative solutions to design challenges, enhancing overall brand aesthetic.
- Developed innovative design concepts that effectively conveyed the desired brand message.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Created compelling graphic designs for print and digital media.
- Applied graphic design principles to produce high-quality marketing collateral.
- Designed engaging graphics that increased social media engagement by 30%.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Leveraged design skills to create impactful marketing materials that boosted sales by 25%.
- Developed visually compelling marketing collateral that increased brand awareness.
- Collaborated with the marketing team to design promotional graphics that drove customer engagement.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Utilized Photoshop to edit images and enhance visual appeal.
- Skilled in Photoshop for image manipulation, color correction, and retouching.
- Efficiently used Photoshop to create and modify design elements for various projects.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Proficient in using Indesign to create engaging layouts for brochures and magazines.
- Utilized Indesign to design and format comprehensive product catalogs.
- Applied expertise in Indesign to produce compelling print and digital layouts.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Skilled in various Adobe software to create comprehensive design solutions.
- Utilized Adobe Suite to create high-quality visuals and layouts.
- Leveraged Adobe software to create engaging digital and print designs.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Cloud tools for comprehensive design and editing tasks.
- Applied Adobe Creative skills to produce visually compelling marketing materials.
- Leveraged Adobe Creative Suite for designing and editing tasks across multiple projects.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Excelled in creating designs that effectively conveyed the brand’s identity and message.
- Leveraged creative design skills to enhance visual communication.
- Used creative design principles to create engaging visuals that increased social traffic by 20%.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Designed brand-compliant visuals that enhanced brand recognition.
- Maintained brand consistency across all design outputs, strengthening brand identity.
- Applied branding principles to create a cohesive visual identity for multiple campaigns.
Examples of how to write this skill on your resume:
- Applied knowledge of typography to enhance the readability and aesthetic appeal of design projects.
- Utilized typography principles to create balanced and harmonious designs.
- Skillfully incorporated typography into designs, improving user engagement and readability.
Optimize your resume in minutes
5 tips for writing a graphic designer resume
Create a bulleted resume skills section
Use a simple, clean format that highlights your skills and experiences. Focus on readability using bullet points and short phrases to present your skills. Properly organize your resume into education, experience, and skills sections.
For example, a graphic designer’s bullet points might look like this:
- Skilled in various Adobe software to create comprehensive design solutions.
- Skilled in Photoshop for image manipulation, color correction, and retouching.
- Designed engaging graphics that increased social media engagement by 30%.
Hitting all the top job requirements with your skills list will help you rank highly for a keyword search within an applicant tracking system. But don’t stop there. Add context for every skill elsewhere in your work experience. If a recruiter is excited by adobe creative in your skills section, the first thing they’ll do is skim your work experience to figure out when, how, and how much you used that skill.
Highlight skills and achievements in your work experience section
As a graphic designer, you must emphasize your skills and achievements in the work experience section of your resume. This will make you stand out to potential employers and show them you possess the expertise they seek.
When detailing your work experience, be sure to showcase your accomplishments relevant to the graphic designer’s role. For instance, if you’ve excelled in graphic designs for print and digital media, make a point to highlight these achievements.
Instead of saying,
“Created graphic designs for print and digital media.”
You could say,
“Designed engaging graphics that increased social media engagement by 30%.”
Using these detailed and quantified statements, you can effectively highlight your graphic design skills and achievements, making your resume more attractive to potential employers.
Break resume skills sections into categories
If you’re applying for a graphic design role that requires a diverse skillset, consider categorizing your skills to make it easier for potential employers to understand your range of expertise.
For instance, someone applying for the role might benefit from segmenting their skill lists as follows:
Design and Creativity Skills:
- Creative Thinking: Excelled at generating innovative design concepts that elevated the visual appeal of various digital and print marketing materials.
- Graphic Design: Demonstrated proficiency in creating compelling visual content for diverse marketing campaigns.
- Creative Design: Excelled in creative design principles to create unique and visually stimulating designs.
Technical Proficiency Skills:
- Adobe Suite: Demonstrated expertise in Adobe software, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, for creating high-quality visuals and comprehensive design solutions.
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Proficient in utilizing Adobe Creative Cloud tools to deliver comprehensive design and editing tasks.
- Indesign: Proficient in Adobe InDesign for crafting engaging layouts for various print and digital media.
Marketing and Branding Skills:
- Marketing: Effectively incorporated design principles to create visually stimulating marketing collateral that increased brand awareness.
- Branding: Expertise in designing and maintaining a consistent visual identity, effectively enhancing brand recognition across various marketing platforms.
Typography Skills:
- Typography: Applied a keen understanding of typography to improve the design’s readability and aesthetic appeal, enhancing overall user engagement.
Communication and Teamwork Skills:
- Collaboration: Effectively collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure design alignment with overall marketing strategy.
- Presentation: Demonstrated strong communication skills in presenting design ideas and receiving feedback.
Please note that while the skills are largely the same, the way they’re categorized and presented can make a significant difference in how they’re perceived by potential employers.
This method of categorizing skills allows potential employers to understand your diverse expertise quickly and makes your resume more readable.
Quantify your achievements
Use numbers to quantify your achievements wherever possible. This helps potential employers understand your abilities and the impact you can have on their organization.
Instead of saying,
“Created engaging visuals.”
You could say,
“Used creative design principles to create engaging visuals that increased web traffic by 20%.”
Using numbers gives hiring managers a better sense of your value and demonstrates your expertise in graphic design.
Quantifying your achievements makes your resume more compelling and effectively communicates the impact you can have on a potential employer’s organization.
Tailor your resume to the job description
Read the description carefully and emphasize the relevant skills and experiences. Highlight the skills that the employer seeks and provide examples of how you’ve used those skills in your previous roles. Doing so can demonstrate that you’re a strong fit for the position and increase your chances of being invited to an interview.
Job Title: Graphic Designer at a Digital Marketing Company
Requirements:
Experience with digital design projects, ability to work independently, and skill in various Adobe software.
Tailored Resume Description:
- Successfully managed and independently executed a diverse range of digital design projects for a leading marketing agency, resulting in a 20% increase in client satisfaction.
- Proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign. Utilized these tools to create high-impact visual content, improving engagement by 30% across all digital platforms.
- Worked autonomously on multiple projects concurrently, maintaining high-quality standards and meeting all deadlines.
By tailoring your resume in this way, you can demonstrate that you have the specific skills and experiences the employer is looking for, thus increasing your chances of getting an interview.
Bonus Tip: Use action verbs
Start each bullet point with an action verb. An action verb expresses an action, such as “create,” “build,” “manage,” “lead,” or “implement.”
Action verbs grab the reader’s attention and paint a vivid picture of what you accomplished at work.
Action verbs make your resume more interesting to read. They also show the kind of can-do attitude that employers are looking for.
FAQs
- Design Skills: Proficiency in design software, such as Adobe Creative Suite, is essential. This includes Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
- Communication Skills: As a freelancer, you must communicate effectively with your clients to understand their vision and deliver satisfactory results.
- Time Management: You’ll often work on multiple projects simultaneously, so you need to manage your time effectively.
- Business Skills: Basic understanding of business practices, like invoicing, contract negotiation, and marketing, can be helpful for a freelance career.
- Practice Regularly: The more you design, the more you learn. Regular practice helps you understand design principles and software tools better.
- Enroll in Courses: Online platforms offer numerous design courses that can help you improve your skills.
- Seek Feedback: Share your work with others and accept constructive criticism to improve.
- Stay Updated: Keep up-to-date with the latest design trends and techniques.
- Software Proficiency: Familiarity with graphic design software like Adobe Creative Suite is crucial.
- Creativity: Your ability to create unique, attractive designs is key.
- Typography: Understanding of how to use fonts effectively in designs.
- Color Theory: Knowledge of how to use colors to evoke emotions and meanings.
- Branding: Ability to create designs that align with a brand’s identity.
- Proficiency in Design Software: Tools like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
- Typography: Understanding of fonts and how to use them effectively.
- Photo Editing: Ability to edit and manipulate images.
- Layout Design: Skills in arranging elements on a page effectively and attractively.
- Communication: Ability to articulate your ideas clearly and understand client needs.
- Creativity: Coming up with unique, attractive designs.
- Time Management: Meeting deadlines while juggling multiple projects.
- Attention to Detail: Ensuring no element is out of place in your designs.
Yes, graphic design is a resume skill, especially for jobs in the creative industry. It can be particularly useful for graphic designers, art directors, marketing specialists, and more. Even in non-design jobs, having graphic design skills can be a bonus, as it can be useful for creating presentations, marketing materials, etc.