Coastal Resume for Creative Professionals
Teal header band with photo and objective band. Strong personal branding.
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About this template
Coastal's teal header band paired with a personal photo creates an immediate brand impression. For creative roles where first impressions carry professional weight — art directors, creative consultants, and brand designers — Coastal turns your resume's header into a brand statement.
The objective band below the header is particularly powerful for creative professionals: a one-line positioning statement ("Senior UX designer | FinTech and Health | Figma + Framer") tells recruiters exactly who you are before they engage with your experience.
The two-column body keeps Coastal structured: experience on the left, tools and credentials on the right. For designers whose projects don't all fit neatly in a chronological list, the layout accommodates selected projects and skill groupings alongside traditional work history.
Coastal is strong for UK and Australian creative professionals where photos on CVs are normal and personal presentation is part of the creative brief.
Who is this template for?
- Art directors and creative consultants
- Designers in the UK, Australia, and EU markets
- Brand designers and creative leads
- Creative professionals in portfolio-first hiring processes
Start with this template — free
Upload your existing CV or start from scratch. CVEdge pre-fills your content into the template and gives you an instant ATS score.
Why this template works for creative roles
Coastal's teal header, photo and objective band give a warm, approachable register that suits client-facing creative work — agency roles, freelance positioning, and creative services where personal rapport is part of the proposition.
Recommended section order
- 1Header: photo, name, title
- 2Positioning band
- 3Selected work
- 4Experience
- 5Skills
The band is the most prominent block on the page, so it must carry positioning rather than an objective. For freelance and agency candidates this is effectively your pitch line.
What to put where
Header
Photo where the market supports it; omit for US and UK applications. Portfolio URL belongs here.
Positioning band
What you do, for whom, with what result. 'Brand designer for early-stage consumer startups — 14 identities shipped, 3 through to Series A' rather than a statement of what you are seeking.
Selected work
Client name where you can share it, the brief, your contribution, the outcome. Client recognition carries real weight in agency hiring.
Experience
Concise. For freelancers, structure by engagement rather than employment.
Common mistakes with this template
- Leaving the band as a traditional objective statement, wasting the most prominent space available.
- Including a photo for US or UK applications.
- Naming clients you cannot discuss, or breaching an NDA to do it.
- No outcomes on creative work, which is the most common weakness in agency CVs.
When to choose something else
In-house corporate creative roles applying through portals will usually be better served by the Minimal layout.
Questions about this template
Is Coastal template good for art director applications?+
Yes — Coastal's header brand moment suits art director applications where creative presence is expected. Particularly strong in markets where photos are standard (UK, AU, EU).
Can I use Coastal without a photo for US applications?+
Yes — CVEdge lets you hide the avatar. The header teal band remains as a brand moment even without the photo, which works well for US creative applications.
How should freelancers structure a resume?+
By engagement rather than employment. List your practice as the constant — 'Independent brand designer, 2021–present' — then present selected client engagements beneath it with brief, contribution and outcome. This avoids the appearance of job-hopping that a list of short client stints creates, and it foregrounds the range of work, which is what a client or agency is actually assessing.
Can I name clients on my CV?+
Where the work is public and no NDA covers it, yes — client recognition carries real weight, particularly in agency hiring. Where the engagement is confidential, describe the client by category and scale instead: 'a FTSE 100 retailer' or 'a Series B fintech'. Never name a client whose work you cannot discuss, because the interview will go there immediately.
Template features
- Teal header band creates immediate brand positioning
- Objective statement band for one-line creative positioning
- Photo integration professional and distinctive
- Two-column body for projects + skills alongside chronology
- Colour customisation to match portfolio palette
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Editorial split-weight name, headshot, and plus-marker headings on a grey canvas.
Build your resume with Coastal — free
Upload your existing CV or start fresh. ATS score included. No credit card required.