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The resume for graphic design/Advertising community may look different from the standard. In fact, they break so many of the resume formatting rules that it is more than a resume, it is a marketing piece!

I know, I know! Every resume is a marketing piece. Let me explain. Good marketing pushes the boundaries  It strives to be noticed. It catches the eye, and draws the viewer in. I have looked a good number of resumes, and there are very few that are designed to draw the reader in. 

This is what the professional resume should do, but the graphic design and advertising resume gets to go more outside of the box. I was excited to be able to help design the creative for this resume.

My three-part plan:

My younger brother is about to graduate from college in the graphic design industry. We have been talking about how to get him the best chances in this poor economy with his resume. After two-months of pondering this question, we have finally come up with a plan! 

Part 1: Design LinkedIn.com to be his complete resume! LinkedIn.com has a fantastic feature where the profile can be exported. When done, the entire profile is formatted to look the part of the traditional well done resume. 

Part 2: The design element. This is where the product my brother wants to design gets to be partnered with his design skills. Let’s say he wants to design clothing brands. In that case, he could design a t-shirt, hat, belt… to be his “design resume.” 

The whole purpose of the design resume is to showcase his skills, to catch the eye, and to pull in the viewer. This design resume will be the catalyst that pulls the viewing into the LinkedIn profile and into Part 3. 

Part 3: This is part of the application process is going to be a video about my brother’s interests and how it relates to graphic design. It will show him doing the things he wants to design for with his portfolio projects of those activities beside it and have a voice over of him talking about why he is interested in these things and his goals in life. At the end, there will be a screen of contact information overlaid on the design clicked on to get the view to the video.