Sunday, April 10, 2011

Rrrrrrrrrresumes! (AKA one of many things that I lack.)



A while back I came across this post compiling images of creatively designed resumes. As graphic designers, we're lucky — we're allowed to get really ridiculous with our resumes, pushing the limits of visual design in order to distinctify* our resumes for the purpose of showing off the skills that we're supposed to be hired for.

*Yes, distinctify is totally a word. Nakware made it up in Mark's class last quarter and I am stealing it forever and ever.

But how far is too far? I find that while I do like how most of these resumes look and the concept behind them, I also find some of them really hard to read. (In particular, I have little patience for the comic-style resumes, whose style I otherwise like. Weird.) Which kind of defeats the purpose of a resume, doesn't it? You create a resume to show off your skills and experience to a potential employer, but if the employer can't read it then it's essentially wasted effort. I think that if you get a little too creative with your resume design, then it ends up paradoxically contradicting your skill as a designer, because that means that you've lost the communication channel between your work and your audience. At that point, about all the resume is good for is either recycling bin fodder, impromptu paper airplane fodder, or being framed and hung on a wall as an abstract art piece.

The resume featured at the top of this post is one that I think is very creative and eye-catching, yet it's also very easy to read and find the information that you're looking for. About the only thing I have a problem with is the bolded font for the body text, but that's picking the tiniest of nits.

18 comments:

  1. I feel like a lot of those are REALLY specific to what they might want to do, and it might be really hard to get a job that is more 'serious' with those resumes. But, if that's what they want, I guess it doesn't matter!

    Personally, I feel a lot of pressure to heavily 'design' a resume and sometimes I feel like I just want to stand out in a less crazy way.

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  2. I would have to agree about the bolded font for the body text. And one thing I always look for when there is type in a layout, is if they use capital letters for body text, which we know is hard to read. But in this resume the text near his mouth is all capital letters to unleash his skills, as though he is in pain or angry. Awesome resume altogether.

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  3. Thank you for sharing the link! I am currently tweaking my resume and trying to develop it further as far as creative layout is concerned. From past experience in my own work place, I have seen many resumes from applicants applying for stylist positions that resemble the examples from your link. I feel that the use of space in a resume and the overall typography if used in a clean manner can help to organize information and increase the legibility in the long run.

    Perhaps something we can take into account is the type of paper and presentation of the resume. These elements can definitely make a great impression especially when considering the average resume seems to be printed on 8.5 x11 xerox paper.

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  4. I also like that, as a designer, we get to have a flashier resume, but there it should be judiciously applied. In the end, however, fancy we get, it is a crapshoot if the employer will appreciate your creative effort or not...and I suppose that also depends on what type of company you send to.

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  5. This is a subject that consistently is brought to my attention through reading and research. A designers resume should have a little oomph that other 'non-designers' do not have, but they should not be overly done making them hard to read.

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  6. I have literally never seen a resume that looked like that before. Designers really do make some very creative looking resumes. But Keith is right in that I feel like these types of resumes are made for a very specific job, but I would definitely be interested in seeing more like this.

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  7. I have always wondered what employers were looking for in resumes, for Zacks Senior Design Portfolio Class, we got to go to the MCA and learn what the in house designers there do. At the end we got to ask questions and one was about what they look for in resumes, they basically said that they wanted something clean, easy to read and organized and something that they could tell was not done in word. So I think it is safe to add a little extra oomph to a resume but nothing too crazy unless you really know what the job is specifically looking for.

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  8. Thanks for reminding me to spruce that thing up - does anyone else have one of those awful experience.com resumes right now?

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  9. Like Sheri, I've never seen a resume like that. I just recently made my updated resume and now I want to redo it :)

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  10. I just stumbled this online! I was going to post it for my blog haha. I really thought they were great, but I agree with some of the comments that say they might be too difficult to read. You have to be sure that your employer is open-minded and creative!

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  11. The resume is very original and interesting. I would be too worried that the employer that I am applying for would think it was too much but I commend that person for being bold and showing off their originality.

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  12. Legibility and organization are so so so key to any resume. I think many of those, although creative, were hard to read and an employer would be put off. We are lucky that we can be more creative with our resumes, but we have to be careful not to over-do it.

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  13. I appreciate that we get to have creative resumes as well but I do think some are really over designed. There needs to be a balance between the design and readability. More likely than not your resume will be handed to people other than those in the creative sector of the company so I think people need to keep in mind that in mind. As creatives our resumes will ultimately be seen as a piece of your portfolio and your ability to lay out text in a letter sized space.

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  14. i think this is a relevant post for me, because i built my resume in adobe illustrator. it looks nothing like this, however, it does break the resume norm.

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  15. I agree that we are very lucky in the sense that we get to personalize our resumes and can get really creative. I am so nervous about making my resume more than my portfolio (weird huh), but that is mainly because your resume is suppose to tell them what you can do while proving it at the same time. I feel that finding that balance (as you pointed out) is very daunting, but I have to do it and I will.

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  16. I think Julie has a great point, we need to consider who is actually looking at the resume- creatives entirely? No, probably not. I think there is a fine line with the balance in designing our resumes, but I think it is important we have our personality come across and matches our experiences as stated on the page.

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  17. I also came across the site with very creative resumes I think that some of them have been taken way too far.

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  18. I agree with Nina, be creative, just don't over-do it. And always keep in mind the job or company you are applying for. For a creative job at a corporate office, you may be better off just keeping it simple.

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