An eye for design
I simply wanted to make my resume look good.
I had just sent a copy of my resume to a potential employer. He was in need of freelancers for his own client. After review, he replied that it was very light, I should make emphasis on my development skills. Truthfully, that copy was old, needed updating and was quite generic. A friend had just shown me you could make a resume out of your LinkedIn profile. New task: redo your resume.
I always look out for good design and presentation of information on outlets such as digital fliers, physical banners, websites among others. Admire good work, and turn up my nose at shoddy work. I can’t define good and shoddy, I just feel it.
And in re-creating my resume it had to stand out. How do I go about that? I find creating designs an artistic skill, something I’ve also said I am not very good at. But that’s not what’s going to happen here. I’m going to create, and it’s gonna be awesome.
With no particular prior experience, I set out with instincts. If I was looking at my resume what would I want to see, now how do you present that information that I (someone else) actually see it and not glaze over it.
First up: wire frames. How should the final work look like — a skeletal outline. The result of this stage is not exactly the foundation but a rough sketch of how everything will interact with each other. Enter information architecture.
Information Architecture: takeaway: information organised to give the target audience just enough for them to find the next section of information. and keep it going, of course.
Colors: I am partial to black, white and blue. . so let’s use that. Research and then we find the types of signals and emotions different colors give off. Still use black, white and blue cause you’re comfortable with it.
Fonts: Google Fonts to the rescue. Monteserrat looks good. Throw in another font family to keep the blend going.
Message: I want it to say bold, smart and professional.
Welcome my first foray into designing visual information: my resume.
