Blackwell: creative resume template
Black header band with your title in marigold. For brand, design and creative leads.
Blackwell opens with a solid black band that runs to the top and both side edges of the paper. Your name sits in it in large white capitals, your job title below in marigold capitals and your contact line in softened white. Under the band the page is plain white: black uppercase headings over heavy black rules, and small marigold square bullets.
- Audience
- Design · Brand · Creative
- Colour schemes
- Ink, Maroon, Navy
- Photo slot
- Yes
- Paper
- A4 and US Letter
This is a Showcase layout for designers, brand managers, content leads and creative directors who send their resume straight to a person: a creative director, an agency founder or a portfolio reviewer. The black band makes a strong first impression in a PDF on screen. It is not built for job portals, for reasons set out below. There is an optional photo slot, and like everything in PaperKit it is free and carries no watermark.
Pick Blackwell if…
- A person will read this before any software does.
- You want a photo and a strong header without a sidebar.
- You work in design, brand, content or creative leadership.
- Most people will see your resume on screen, as a PDF attached to an email or linked from a portfolio.
What a parser makes of Blackwell
- Your name and contact details are white type on a black block. Some applicant tracking systems read reversed text correctly. Others drop it or misplace it, and your resume can arrive without a name or email attached.
- The band is a large filled shape behind text, the kind of background graphic that throws off column and header detection.
- The black section rules are heavy enough to register as graphic elements.
- A photo, if you add one, sits in the band above your name. No parser reads a photograph, so leave it out of portal uploads.
How much fits on one page
The black band takes roughly the top fifth of the page before your summary begins, so Blackwell holds less than an ATS-first layout: three or four roles per page. Printing needs care. A home or office printer cannot reach the paper edge, so the band will have a white border around it, and a large solid black area shows streaks on a cheap printer. For interviews, use a good laser printer or simply send the PDF.
When to use something else
If the same application also goes through a job portal, keep Blackwell out of it. Upload Plainline or Ledger there and send Blackwell in the email to the hiring manager; switching templates in the editor keeps every word. If black feels too heavy for your field, Harbour has a coloured band with a lighter, more corporate tone.
Blackwell works well for these roles
Creative and brand roles, where the reader expects the resume itself to show some taste.
Questions about Blackwell
- Can I change Blackwell's black band to another colour?
- No. The black band and the marigold accents are fixed parts of this design. The colour scheme picker changes your section headings to ink, maroon or navy and leaves the band alone. For a coloured band, Harbour uses deep teal, and Masthead's band follows whichever scheme you pick.
- Should I add a photo to Blackwell?
- Only if the employer has asked for one or your field expects it. The photo sits in the black band above your name, in a square frame with rounded corners and a thin white ring. A well-lit head-and-shoulders shot against a plain background holds up best against the black.
- Is Blackwell ATS-friendly?
- No. The reversed name and contact details in the band are the main risk: if a system cannot read them, your application can reach the recruiter's database with no name or email. Use Blackwell for email, print and portfolio, and a single-column layout for anything you upload.