Role-specific guide

Designer CV Guide + Tailored Template (2026)

Designer CVs are unique: the CV is only half the signal, the portfolio is the other half. Your CV's job is to frame the portfolio, quantify design impact where possible, and list the tools + specific outcomes that back up the screens.

Keywords to include (if honest)

  • Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Figma is the default in 2026

  • Design systems (built or contributed to)

  • Prototyping: Framer, Principle, ProtoPie

  • User research, interviews, usability testing

  • Interaction design, motion design, microcopy

  • Handoff: Figma dev mode, Zeplin, Storybook integration

  • Specialities: product, brand, marketing, illustration, pick and state it

Only include skills you can defend in an interview. Inflated skill lists fail the first phone screen.

What this CV needs to have

  • A portfolio URL in the header, first line

  • 3-5 short case-study bullets per role, not feature lists

  • A design outcome when possible: activation lift, conversion rate, NPS delta

  • Clear specialty, 'product designer (B2B SaaS)' beats 'designer'

Bullets: before and after

Weak

Designed screens for the mobile app using Figma.

Strong

Redesigned the onboarding flow end-to-end (12 screens) for Acme's B2B SaaS; A/B test showed 38% lift in day-7 activation.

Weak

Contributed to the design system.

Strong

Co-owned the Acme design system in Figma (120+ components, auto-layout, variants); adopted by 14 engineers across 3 product pods.

Weak

Worked on marketing assets.

Strong

Led the brand refresh for Acme's 2024 launch, new logo, type system, 30+ marketing templates, Product Hunt's #2 launch of the week.

Project ideas (if yours is thin)

  • A Behance / Dribbble portfolio, but the real moat is a written case study per project

  • A free Figma template on Figma Community

  • A detailed teardown of a public app's UX on LinkedIn

  • A side project with your name on it (indie iOS app, a website, etc.)

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