The Internet is full of written posts that pertain to the look and feel of the CV (lat. Curriculum vitae). Should it be a rather minimalistic design with black letters on a white paper or should it ooze with the visual richness and an explosion of colors and graphical elements. What type of CV is desirable for use?

There are two very different scenarios. When it comes to a minimalistic CV approach, it is desirable to send it when the form and appearance of a CV is not of a high importance, or when it is required in a job posting. Such CV should contain your best qualifications, skills and the very gist of your experience in a black and white format. Although, if you are a Web or graphical designer, or, if you are in a line of work where it is expected for the knowledge to shine through the resume, then, you can rely on a chance to present your knowledge even before the official interview. Such approach can potentially guarantee you a sort of an advantage against the competition.That is where the visually enriched CVcomes in.

In today’s post, we will deal with the material which pertains to the second scenario, which can be of help for designers and digital artists as well, whether they are looking for a full-time job or they are freelancing. In the text below you can find twenty free templates for a biography, portfolio or a cover letter.

1. Alamin Mirov template for CV

Alamin Mir has created a CV template which, simply, oozes professionalism. This template clearly showcases all the relevant information about the candidate, education and work experience. It shows in an original way the data about the language skills, while the skill levels are shown in a form of the progress bars. It comes as a package with three separated templates – CV, portfolio and as a cover letter.

2. Createer Team CV template

Createer Team have made quite a memorable template package that can be used to present your biography in an original way. There are five differently designed templates specifically made for one-page resumes. The differences between these template models are quite significant, so, the chances of you finding the one you really like are pretty high. To make it even better, all the templates can be customized directly on a project page and then, they can be saved on a computer or sent forward.

3. Mint design for a resume

Ira Vosorowa has made interesting templates that easily attract attention. The templates are quite elegant, visually quite complex. They have a bit colder and refreshing shade so, caution is advised when you are about to send such Cvs.

4. Dark theme template for a resume

We have another template from the same author, albeit, this one does not exude the same elegance, but, if by any chance, you are about to apply for a job at some gaming, highly frantic IT company, this type of template will come in handy. This template is also available in two variants – neon pink and pale mint.

5. Nawas Sharif template

CV template from this author is available in three colors: blue, yellow and green. Nawas Sharif has done a fantastic job by making a cover letter template as well, which is certainly going to attract the attention of the people who are inclined to read it. Quite likable font on a darker background, can be one of the better ways to highlight what is written on a paper. Just be sure to pay attention if you need to use our letters, since you are probably going to need to change the type of font in order to have all the letters properly displayed.

6. Al Rayhan CV template

This type of CV is said to belong to a minimalistic group in regards to its visual appearance. It comes as a three-page template with a distinctive order of nine different sections with yellow color, which enriches the very appearance and diverts the attention to the most important details.

7. Jahangir Alam Jisan template

This template diverts the attention with the help of the red and blue color. It exudes professionalism and clarity. The header and footer have been planned in such a way that allow the most important details to be more prominent and eye-catching. The picture is the most dominant element in the header, while in the footer the large icons which represent the hobbies and personal interests are predominant. It comes with three different templates which can be used as a portfolio, CV or a cover letter.

8. Zippy Pixels template for the prominent biography

This is a fantastic template if you wish to present your CV along with you photograph, which takes up almost the entire page. By the way, Zippy Pixels makes top of the line premium templates for a biography, but, this template comes as a free PSD version. The fact that it is free does not mean that it is of a lesser quality, so, you basically get a premium quality in three different colors, and a template for a cover letter.

9. Graphics Fuel resumes for the graphic designers

If, by any chance, you are in a graphic design field or anything that crosses paths with this line of work, you really need to check out what you can use out of this template. You might make use out what you find in this package as it is, or make some changes and as a result get a unique resume. It is a clear and colorful design that is available in two colors.

10. Creative Professional Template resume

The combination of a red and gray color looks stunning. The professionalism is the first thing that catches the eye while browsing this type of CV. It is a PSD raw format, so, Photoshop software is required for editing this document.

11. Swiss Style CV template

Mike Bradshaw has created this template and it uses the minimalistic approach. It combines the orange and white color, which in this combination looks aesthetically pleasing and it accentuates the details that are supposed to be accentuated in the first place. For the items which do not have to be accentuated, it uses grey color and as a whole package it all looks professional and serviceable.

12. Fay Zodiac template for strict graphic designers

If you consider yourself to be a strict and unrelenting graphic designer who can make a true small project just by using a black and white combination, pen and paper, this is the right template for you. Along with the material that is going to make your biography quite impressive, you also get a template for creating a visit card. When sending a visually- oriented CV such as this one, you should exert caution and try to foresee who might be reading it because at first sight it seems cluttered and out of line.

13. Den Serduke Bisiness template

The simple and elegant template for a biography was made by Den Serduke. It seems like there is an excessive amount of white space but it is clearly organized and it carries a certain amount of style when the balance of the colors is concerned. This package comes with a template for a visit card as well.

14. Ahmed Seneina CV template

Yet another minimalistic background for a biography. It is of a simple design and there is not a lot of space on the first page due to the layout, so, pay attention on that specific detail if you do not wish to spread the ample biography on a few pages. Statistics show that some employers simply never read the second page.

15. Minimalistic

Just as the title itself suggests, it is a minimal template in two columns of content. It clearly emphasizes the titles of the fields, while the text is in grey color. That can be considered good and useful but it still depends on reader’s preferences. Generally, the design is rather excellent and can stand out in the crowd.

16. Ashigul Islam Swiss template

By default, it comes in a blue and white combination with the option of a further customization and changing of colors. The template in question is nicely packaged, where a lot of things can be put on a single page due to the smaller fonts being used and well thought out location of the sections.

17. Emiliance Ismailov biography design

The template in question is well packaged clean design. The combination of the colors by default incorporates gray and green in pleasant shades in a way that makes the text quite pronounced. It can easily interest people to take a look at your resume specifically. This professional template has been updated recently for year 2016.

18. Ola Hamdy template for a resume

Ola Hamdy has made two versions of a resume template, one in pink and the other one gray color. In order to be able to customize these documents you are going to need Adobe InDesign.

19. Minimalistic Resume/CV

The well-made and restrained CV pattern if you desire to have a background picture along with your photograph, which will emphasize your aptitude towards nice design. Clearly accentuated titles, high quality font in the descriptions, progress bars which represent your levels together with interests that you can showcase with little pictures, all of this makes up for a very pleasing and easily noticeable biography.

20. Minimalistic Resume/CV for graphic designers

From the same author comes a much more relaxed darker template in which all your experiences and achievements can be presented in a quite original way. It includes a rare triangle design which dominates in pictures and a chart of your history of advancement in your career. For the purpose of customization of this template Adobe InDesign software is required.

A picture is worth a thousand words

This text is going to be read by many people, therefore, the probability that a lot of them are going to use these same templates to present their own biography and work experience is quite high. You can use them as well, or you can do something better and use this material to tailor the background as you see fit. The most of the templates that you can find in the links above are in PSD Adobe Photoshop format, therefore, it should not be too difficult to borrow elements from a multitude of templates in order to make one that is quite unique. You can even go the extra mile and make your own unique version which absolutely does not have anything to do with the ones that we posted in this text. Feel free to let us know if you do just that and share your version of the resume with others.