9 marketing and creative resume examples

An art director, producer or marketing lead usually reads the resume first, then decides whether your samples are worth their time. The resume answers the practical questions: what kind of work you do, for whom, how much of it, and whether you deliver finished files on schedule. The portfolio answers whether they like the work. A few rules hold across every job in this group:

• One link, in the header. Put it beside your email and phone, and point it at the page that matches the job: the packaging work for a packaging studio, the product gallery for a product brand. Open it in a private browser window before you send, so you catch a password page or an expired file share.
• A small, chosen set of work. The graphic designer page suggests six to ten strong pieces or three to five full case studies. A creative director needs four to six case studies, each with the problem, the idea, your role and the result. A writer lists three pieces on the resume and keeps the rest on a clips page, and a video editor keeps a general reel to about 1 to 2 minutes.
• No art on the resume itself. Images, skill bars, text inside shapes and two columns can come out scrambled in hiring software and compete with your samples. One column, good type and perhaps one accent color are enough.
• Your part, stated honestly. Creative work is made by teams. Say whether you led, designed, wrote, edited or supported, and label class projects and personal work as what they are.

Marketing roles are closer to sales than to studio work: the reader wants business results. A marketing manager leads with scope (budget, team size, channels) and then outcomes the business counts, such as revenue, pipeline, cost to win a customer and retention. Followers, impressions and open rates can support a point but should not carry it. A marketing coordinator shows volume and reliability instead: emails built, posts scheduled, events run, deadlines met, and the software the posting names. Because so much coordinator work is proofreading, a single typo costs more here than in most jobs.

A portfolio helps brand, content and creative marketing roles most. Keep it short: a handful of campaigns or samples, each with the goal, your part and what happened. For performance marketing roles, the numbers in your bullets matter more than any showcase.

A string of short freelance gigs can make a resume look scattered. The examples handle it the same way: group the work under one entry, such as Freelance Illustrator or your studio name, with the full date range, the kinds of clients and bullets with counts. The freelance resume guide covers this in more detail.

Name clients, shows and unreleased projects only when you are allowed to; many contracts and productions require confidentiality until release. Describe them instead, such as a scripted streaming drama or a national restaurant chain. Published books, articles and credits get their own short section with the title, publisher or network, your role and the year. Awards belong in a brief list with the show, level and year, after your results rather than instead of them.

No license or certification is required to work as a marketer, designer, illustrator, writer, editor or production assistant. Optional credentials can still help when a posting names a platform: Google Ads, Google Analytics, Meta and HubSpot certifications for digital marketing, the American Marketing Association's Professional Certified Marketer, Adobe Certified Professional exams for design and video apps, and DaVinci Resolve certification from Blackmagic Design. Each example page links the body that runs them.

The exception is drone work. A photographer who flies a small drone for paid work needs a Remote Pilot Certificate under the Part 107 rules of the Federal Aviation Administration. If you have one, list it; if not, do not advertise paid aerial work.

• Breaking in. Production assistant jobs are a common way into film and television, and the marketing coordinator example suits a first marketing job. Use internships, student shoots and class projects as experience, with the internship or entry-level guide.
• Drawing or designing? If most of your work is logos, layouts and brand systems, start from the graphic designer example. If it is original images for books, editorial or games, use the illustrator example.
• Moving into leadership. A senior designer or writer leading others should start from the creative director example and write about the team, the pitches and the business results.
• Changing lanes. A journalist moving into content marketing, or a photographer moving into video, can start from the target job and keep the earlier work as proof of craft. The career change guide covers the summary.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in arts and design occupations, which include graphic designers and illustrators, is projected to grow slower than the average for all occupations from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,400 openings a year and a median annual wage of $58,240 in May 2025. Media and communication occupations, which include photographers, video editors and writers, are projected to see little or no change, with about 88,500 openings a year and a median wage of $74,250 for media and communication workers. The median for all occupations was $50,980. The BLS counts marketing managers with management occupations, and their own figures are in the table above with the rest of this page's jobs.