45+ Key Graphic Design Skills For Your Resume

Here are the best skills for graphic design resumes:

Graphic design software

Every resume your target employer receives brags about Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator proficiency. And yes, you should list those industry-standard tools on your resume.

However, you should also make your application stand out by including other software you use to show that you have experience with different tools and can quickly adapt to the company’s preferred software.

Here are some top Adobe alternatives to put on your resume:

• Figma
• Sketch
• Canva
• Affinity
• Corel

Marketing

Marketing skills are a major plus on your graphic design resume. These skills show that you know how to make graphics and images that maximize conversion rates and increase brand awareness:

• Social media marketing
• Knowledge of image copyright laws
• Branding
• Image SEO
• Sales techniques

Creativity

Creativity is at the center of all graphic design. It’s what enables you to create visuals that convey a message and make the desired impression on their target audience.

Putting these skills on your resume shows employers that you’re a creative graphic designer:

• Innovation
• Problem-solving skills
• Brainstorming
• Curiosity and open mindedness
• Fine art and music
• Keeping up with the latest graphic design trends

Organizational skills

Even if you’re applying to be a full-time graphic designer for a single company, expect to simultaneously work on multiple projects from different departments with varied requirements.

Show the hiring manager that you can handle a diverse workload with ease by describing your organizational skills, including the following:

• Time management
• Multitasking
• Self-motivation
• Stress management
• Scheduling

Teamwork

To be successful in graphic design, you must be good at collaborating with others. Your resume should prove that you respond to feedback, handle criticism well, and create work that meets the requirements of various departments.

Highlight the following teamwork skills on your resume to show that you work well with others:

• Leadership
• Decision making
• Friendliness
• Cloud collaboration (Google Drive and Dropbox)
• Coordination

Basic coding

Rise to the top of the graphic designer talent pool by featuring coding skills on your resume. If you do basic coding work to get your graphics optimized and online, you’ll save a company time and money.

Here are the top coding languages for graphic designers:

• HTML
• JavaScript
• CSS
• C++
• Python

Communication

Your communication skills are as important as your graphic design hard skills are. Even if your technical skills are on point, you won’t get far in a graphic design career if you can’t understand client requirements, negotiate timeframes, or clearly explain your design choices.

Here are five communication skills to highlight on your graphic design resume:

• Interpersonal skills
• Presentation skills
• Active listening
• Confidence
• Public speaking

Design principles

Simply stating your professional title and listing your graphic design degree in your resume’s education section won’t impress the hiring manager.

To stick out from the crowd of applicants, describe your ability to apply advanced graphic design principles, including these:

• Typography (font matching, sizing, and spacing)
• Visual hierarchy
• Color theory
• Reading direction
• Activating negative space

Versatility

To capture the attention of hiring managers looking through hundreds of graphic designer applications, emphasize your versatility on your resume. Add the following skills to your resume to indicate that your design skills extend beyond image creation:

• Animation
• Writing skills
• Video editing
• UI/UX design
• Freehand drawing

How to choose graphic design skills for your resume

There’s no single way to write the perfect graphic design resume because every employer is looking for different skills. To find the skills that that will jump off the page to the hiring manager, read the job ad and underline relevant keywords in the job description, like this:

Also, research the company to determine which skills will have the most impact on your resume.

When you do your research, browse the company’s website, social media accounts, and press releases to determine its design style and branding and discover skills that its design team values.

You can also look for descriptions of the job from the company’s designers on websites like Glassdoor or Comparably.

How to add graphic design skills to your resume

There are three main sections where you should showcase your graphic design skills on your resume:

1. The skills section
2. The work experience section
3. The resume summary

If an employer emphasizes the importance of a few key design skills, include these at the top of your resume in your summary. This ensures the employer can tell you have the skill set they need as soon as they pick up your resume.

In your experience section, write effective bullet points by focusing on one skill or achievement for each bullet. For example:

Leveraged advanced features in Adobe Photoshop and Figma to create dynamic multimedia content, contributing to a 25% increase in social media engagement.

Finally, list additional graphic design skills in the skills section of your resume. Remember to make sure that these are relevant to the specific position you want.

Additional skills for graphic designers

Below are more skills to include on your graphic designer resume:

• Computer skills
• Hard skills
• People skills
• Time management skills
• Technical skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Collaboration skills