Portfolio︎
A designer can tell a lot from your resume. It is probably the first time they hear of you and therefore an introduction to you as a person and as a professional designer. It’s your one-page portfolio. It’s the virtual you. The resume itself is definitely information that should demand my undivided attention. It needs to be designed. Your choice of typefaces and typography, the layout and the organization of information, the paper stock, etc., all contribute to the way I perceive you as a potential designer working for us. It also shows me what you can do on a single piece of paper. But high wire acts are dangerous, so keep it simple and readable. No elaborate personal logos, please, especially if you're just out of school. It's a bit pretentious.
Your resume needs to motivate someone to want to look at your portfolio or learn more about you. Your education and work experiences are very important, but ultimately it's the “live” you, your work, and your presentation, which makes one want to hire you.
A Resume is a typographic exercise.
Think about establishing a very clear hierarchy. Think about using a superfamily or 2 different typefaces. Try all caps, boldface, color (actual color) italics, or underlining to help organize the information. Avoid full-color backgrounds (color, black) they will not print nicely.
Proofread. Use spellcheck, double-check your contact information and make sure your formatting is consistent. Ask a friend or family member to proofread it as well. Check for errors that spellcheck programs miss (i.e. there vs. their; to, too or two).
Digital and Printed. You will have to consider all: how you print it out and hand it to someone, how it looks on screen, and how it prints if someone is printing it themselves maybe it will be b/w, low on toner, not bleed, etc.
Paper and printing. Do some research on papers, find one that feels good in the hand, not too thin and wimpy. Do not use a "cool" paper if the printing looks terrible.
Paper sources: French paper | paper station in KC only M-F 9-5pm | Neenah Paper online
Digitally print: MOO
your name
cell number
email address (if you are a senior change to a different non-ku address)
web address (behance works great)
instagram (optional)
linkedIn (optional)
:: T I P S::
phone number: use spaces or periods
email address try and get your name@gmail or hotmail or... if you are a senior no ku.edu addresses
EDUCATION
The University of Kansas, Lawrence Kansas
BFA Design, Visual Communication Design
Expected Graduation May 20xx
Include:
Minors (list them individually not something like Minor in Business and Art History
Certificates (Service Learning, ENTR)
Study Abroad
Workshops/ Short courses
Include GPA if it is 3.5 or higher
:: T I P S::
Do not list where you went to High School.
Study Abroad and Workshops: list date/or duration, where, and a short description
EXPERIENCE
List your experience from PRESENT to PAST
Name of Company, City, Dates worked
Short description of responsibilities.
No street address
No names
:: T I P S::
All jobs good to show a balance include any freelance jobs and internships
Describe responsibilities but do not describe jobs such as server, lifeguard they are obvious. See handout packet for good examples of job descriptions. Provide meaningful descriptions of your experiences. When detailing your job history, use short sentences or fragments to demonstrate your relevant experience. Use strong action words. For example: "developed and implemented a new filing system"; "created two new membership programs."
AWARDS or AWARDS & ACTIVITIES (awards, scholarships, marks of achievement)
Date, Name of the Award (Glitch, AIGA KC, AD CLUB...)
Date, Scholarships
Date, Dean's list
etc.
:: T I P S::
If you have a written project's objectives / concept statement in your portfolio or any of your promotional pieces INCLUDE if the project receive an award, and name the award.
ACTIVITIES
KU Design Week 2022 (you can write all the workshop you did or just put KU Design Week 2022
Member of a Student Group?
Member of a National Organization?
Other online Lectures or workshops?
...
add
Any Club or Organization, date
Any activity, have a date associated with it if possible
Community Service, location, date
Center for Service Learning, project, date
Conferences Attended, date, location
:: T I P S::
Very important if you held a position include it.
SKILLS
DO NOT MAKE THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING on your resume!
Name platform if you are familiar with both mac and windows
Adobe Creative Suite, (any others), Microsoft Office, Include things like Letterpress, Serigraphy, (any printmaking class ), Book Binding... photography... Foreign Language
:: T I P S::
Be honest about the programs. You can say proficient in... limited experience in...
Don't forget word, power point... List programs and SPELL them correctly.
Adobe InDesign...
References are on their own sheet not listed on the resume!!!!!
REFERENCES (Can be your instructors, professionals, activity advisor...)
Do not give out until someone asks for it -- but they will so be prepared. Make sure you ask the person before you add them to your references and ask them the best way someone should get in contact with them. Sometimes its email others cell number.
Name
Company, Title
Mailing Address
Phone Number
Email
Write Content: Use the outline above and write out all your content.
Proofread. Use spellcheck, double check your contact information and make sure your formatting is consistent. Ask a friend or family member to proofread it as well. Check for errors that spellcheck programs miss (i.e. there vs. their; to, too or two).
Your Name Type Study. What typeface are you? Try your name different ways (fonts, styles, case all caps, all lowercase) do you want a title Designer, Designer and Illustrator, Photographer... maybe 25 different studies just so see how it looks.
Hierarchy Studies. How can you establish a quick read. Start with sample content. You can use this doc. an example (just a start)
Explore different layouts. Do you use one column? or 2 columns? or 3 columns? combination of 1 column and 2. Are dates in the body text or called out to the side?
Resume layout and typography examples...
Resume
A designer can tell a lot from your resume. It is probably the first time they hear of you and therefore an introduction to you as a person and as a professional designer. It’s your one-page portfolio. It’s the virtual you. The resume itself is definitely information that should demand my undivided attention. It needs to be designed. Your choice of typefaces and typography, the layout and the organization of information, the paper stock, etc., all contribute to the way I perceive you as a potential designer working for us. It also shows me what you can do on a single piece of paper. But high wire acts are dangerous, so keep it simple and readable. No elaborate personal logos, please, especially if you're just out of school. It's a bit pretentious.
Your resume needs to motivate someone to want to look at your portfolio or learn more about you. Your education and work experiences are very important, but ultimately it's the “live” you, your work, and your presentation, which makes one want to hire you.
A Resume is a typographic exercise.
Think about establishing a very clear hierarchy. Think about using a superfamily or 2 different typefaces. Try all caps, boldface, color (actual color) italics, or underlining to help organize the information. Avoid full-color backgrounds (color, black) they will not print nicely.
Proofread. Use spellcheck, double-check your contact information and make sure your formatting is consistent. Ask a friend or family member to proofread it as well. Check for errors that spellcheck programs miss (i.e. there vs. their; to, too or two).
Digital and Printed. You will have to consider all: how you print it out and hand it to someone, how it looks on screen, and how it prints if someone is printing it themselves maybe it will be b/w, low on toner, not bleed, etc.
Paper and printing. Do some research on papers, find one that feels good in the hand, not too thin and wimpy. Do not use a "cool" paper if the printing looks terrible.
Paper sources: French paper | paper station in KC only M-F 9-5pm | Neenah Paper online
Digitally print: MOO
CONTENT
(outline on google docs)your name
cell number
email address (if you are a senior change to a different non-ku address)
web address (behance works great)
instagram (optional)
linkedIn (optional)
:: T I P S::
phone number: use spaces or periods
email address try and get your name@gmail or hotmail or... if you are a senior no ku.edu addresses
EDUCATION
The University of Kansas, Lawrence Kansas
BFA Design, Visual Communication Design
Expected Graduation May 20xx
Include:
Minors (list them individually not something like Minor in Business and Art History
Certificates (Service Learning, ENTR)
Study Abroad
Workshops/ Short courses
Include GPA if it is 3.5 or higher
:: T I P S::
Do not list where you went to High School.
Study Abroad and Workshops: list date/or duration, where, and a short description
EXPERIENCE
List your experience from PRESENT to PAST
Name of Company, City, Dates worked
Short description of responsibilities.
No street address
No names
:: T I P S::
All jobs good to show a balance include any freelance jobs and internships
Describe responsibilities but do not describe jobs such as server, lifeguard they are obvious. See handout packet for good examples of job descriptions. Provide meaningful descriptions of your experiences. When detailing your job history, use short sentences or fragments to demonstrate your relevant experience. Use strong action words. For example: "developed and implemented a new filing system"; "created two new membership programs."
AWARDS or AWARDS & ACTIVITIES (awards, scholarships, marks of achievement)
Date, Name of the Award (Glitch, AIGA KC, AD CLUB...)
Date, Scholarships
Date, Dean's list
etc.
:: T I P S::
If you have a written project's objectives / concept statement in your portfolio or any of your promotional pieces INCLUDE if the project receive an award, and name the award.
ACTIVITIES
KU Design Week 2022 (you can write all the workshop you did or just put KU Design Week 2022
Member of a Student Group?
Member of a National Organization?
Other online Lectures or workshops?
...
add
Any Club or Organization, date
Any activity, have a date associated with it if possible
Community Service, location, date
Center for Service Learning, project, date
Conferences Attended, date, location
:: T I P S::
Very important if you held a position include it.
SKILLS
DO NOT MAKE THIS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING on your resume!
Name platform if you are familiar with both mac and windows
Adobe Creative Suite, (any others), Microsoft Office, Include things like Letterpress, Serigraphy, (any printmaking class ), Book Binding... photography... Foreign Language
:: T I P S::
Be honest about the programs. You can say proficient in... limited experience in...
Don't forget word, power point... List programs and SPELL them correctly.
Adobe InDesign...
References are on their own sheet not listed on the resume!!!!!
REFERENCES (Can be your instructors, professionals, activity advisor...)
Do not give out until someone asks for it -- but they will so be prepared. Make sure you ask the person before you add them to your references and ask them the best way someone should get in contact with them. Sometimes its email others cell number.
Name
Company, Title
Mailing Address
Phone Number
HOW TO GET STARTED
Write Content: Use the outline above and write out all your content.
Proofread. Use spellcheck, double check your contact information and make sure your formatting is consistent. Ask a friend or family member to proofread it as well. Check for errors that spellcheck programs miss (i.e. there vs. their; to, too or two).
Your Name Type Study. What typeface are you? Try your name different ways (fonts, styles, case all caps, all lowercase) do you want a title Designer, Designer and Illustrator, Photographer... maybe 25 different studies just so see how it looks.
Hierarchy Studies. How can you establish a quick read. Start with sample content. You can use this doc. an example (just a start)
Explore different layouts. Do you use one column? or 2 columns? or 3 columns? combination of 1 column and 2. Are dates in the body text or called out to the side?
Resume layout and typography examples...