Rediscovering My First Ever Graphic Design Résumé

We all start somewhere, right? While cleaning my cloud storage recently, I stumbled upon my first graphic design résumé from 2012. Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. I opened it up — and there it was. My very first résumé, full of early creativity and ambition.

From Web Designer to Front-End Developer

As a front-end developer, my journey has evolved tremendously. I started simply as a web designer — creating mockups, slicing them into tables, and bringing static designs to life. Stumbling upon this résumé took me straight back to the technologies I used back then. Today, I’m not just building layouts. I develop dynamic front-end applications, master modern frameworks like React and Vue.js, write clean code, and tackle complex UI/UX challenges. This evolution highlights how much my skills and approach have grown over the years.

Creative Nostalgia

Instant nostalgia. Looking back, I can see how much I valued creativity. I didn’t want my résumé to simply list my skills. Instead, I wanted it to say something about who I was as a designer.

So, I did something bold: I turned my résumé into a “Wanted” poster, straight out of an old Western movie.

“WANTED: Known to be proactive and extremely creative.”

Unique Layout and Design

Beneath that tagline were my name, contact info, and a playful layout including sections like:

• Known Skills
• Seen With
• History

For Photoshop — my strongest tool at the time — I even used five sheriff’s stars to represent my skill level (Photoshop tutorials). It was creative, quirky, and definitely unconventional.

Lessons Learned

Of course, there are things I’d do differently now. I lumped all my skills together instead of separating them. My typography section was more like a brainstorm dump than a curated list. However, that’s the beauty of growth. You learn, refine, and evolve.

Today, Photoshop isn’t just my playground anymore — it’s my creative command center. My design philosophy and approach have matured in ways I couldn’t imagine back then.

This discovery reminded me why saving everything matters. Proper file naming, organization, and backups aren’t just good habits — they are time capsules.

Finding that first graphic design résumé wasn’t just nostalgic. It reminded me why I started and how much I’ve grown. You can also see more of my early projects in my portfolio evolution.

Looking Back

Have you ever found one of your first design projects tucked away somewhere? If so, I’d love to hear the story. Sometimes, looking back is the best way to see how far we’ve moved forward.