How I built my designerly CV
Source: Dev.to
Requirements
- Free & open‑source (no subscriptions to big‑tech firms)
- Minimal dependency on web connectivity – edit the CV at short notice with limited Internet
- Save as a regular file and share easily (email attachment, LinkedIn message, etc.)
- Export to common formats – PDF and Word (so recruiters can edit if needed)
- Cross‑platform compatibility – works on both macOS and Windows
LibreOffice ticked all the boxes nicely.
Design Process
Before jumping into the word processor, I sketched a simple pen‑and‑paper layout, then refined it with a block diagram in draw.io. This high‑level experimentation let me tweak the design until I was comfortable.
The final layout consists of:
- A vertically stacked set of blocks for each job
- Each block uses a two‑column layout: duties on the left, details (dates, tech, testimonials) on the right
- A prominent header featuring core technologies and formal education
- A closing section for side projects and short courses
Implementation in LibreOffice
Tables, paragraphs, bullets, and the Style & Formatting panel in LibreOffice work seamlessly with both Word and PDF outputs. Margins, padding, and bullet styles are fully configurable, allowing a near‑perfect design. Throughout the build, I repeatedly exported to PDF and Word to verify the results.
Content Writing Tips
- Shorten month names (e.g.,
Jan→Jan) - Abbreviate date intervals (
year→yr) - Reduce font size on whole lines (e.g., testimonial author and date)
- Combine multiple details onto one line (e.g., start/finish dates, period, industry)
- Remove unnecessary verbosity and non‑essential grammar, trading minor grammatical correctness for visual appeal
Font Choice
For headings I wanted a distinctive font and settled on Sweden Sans, released into the public domain. Web developers can easily embed such fonts via WOFF/TTF files or Google Fonts, but word processors require a different approach.
LibreOffice supports font embedding:
File → Properties → Font tab → check **Embed fonts in the document**This ensures the font appears correctly in both exported DOCX and PDF files.
Sharing the Template
- My CV – Download: conwy-cv.zip
- Designerly CV Template Package – Download: conwy-designerly-cv-template-package.zip