About this template
The Comic Strip template plays the layout in pop-art panels: Bangers display, Comic Neue body, !POW! cells and onomatopoeic accents. Playful at first glance, disciplined in the grid — every panel is strictly aligned, like a Hergé page revisited by Chris Ware. It is not an ATS-safe CV and does not pretend to be: it is built for an animation studio director, a comics editor or a motion-design commissioner who reads this CV as a sample of your art direction. The format is calibrated for animation studios, comics publishers and motion agencies that judge on the expressiveness of the line before the formal résumé.
Who is it for?
For 2D/3D animators, comic-book illustrators, storyboard artists, motion designers, kids-content creators and senior visual storytellers applying to Cartoon Saloon, Aardman Animations, Pixar, DreamWorks, Laika, Studio Ghibli, Studio AKA, Passion Pictures, as well as the French studios Folimage, Folivari, Xilam, Mac Guff and Mikros Image. Suited to applications at Image Comics, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf, BOOM! Studios, IDW, Nobrow, Avery Hill and festivals (Festival d'Angoulême, Annecy International Animation Festival, MIFA, Lakes International Comic Art Festival, Thought Bubble Leeds). To be avoided for first-job junior generalists, institutional contexts and corporate communications — the apparent lightness of the format will work against the candidate in those contexts.
How to use it
Place a portfolio URL in the header with a pro Vimeo link or personal domain, not a generic YouTube channel. In the Projects section, list 4-6 marquee projects with the studio, the title of the film or series, your exact role (lead animator, character TD, storyboard supervisor, head of story) and the duration of engagement. For features, name the director — it is an immediate marker for a recruiter. For NDA-bound projects (typical on Pixar or Netflix Animation pre-production), state the studio, the duration and the type of role without naming the project. Portfolio coherence is expected: a Vimeo showreel of 90 seconds maximum, sharply edited, with the full credit roll at the end. Long-tail: « 2D animator CV Cartoon Saloon », « storyboard artist CV Pixar », « comic illustrator CV Image Comics », « motion designer CV Annecy », « character designer CV Laika ».
Frequently asked questions
Does the template handle a mixed career spanning 2D animation, 3D animation and motion design?
Yes — the panel grid is precisely built to articulate several visual disciplines without dilution. Create one panel per discipline (« 2D Animation », « 3D Animation », « Motion Design », « Art Direction ») with the corresponding projects. Avoid merging everything into a single « Animation » panel: a studio director wants to see where you lead and where you contribute. For a character designer transitioning into directing, create a separate « Directing » panel with one marquee project — that is the pivot the recruiter is looking for.
Should graphic vignettes (keyframe screenshots) be embedded in the panels?
No. The template is built in pure typography so that textual content stays legible and the PDF weight stays under 1 MB. Graphic vignettes belong in the Vimeo or Behance portfolio linked in the header — not in the CV. For applications where a vignette is expected (rare, mainly for storyboards), send a second dedicated « board sample » PDF alongside the CV. The CV / sample separation reads as a marker of professional method.
Does the template suit applications in children's publishing (Walker Books, Candlewick, Phaidon Kids)?
Yes, particularly for children's illustrators targeting Walker Books, Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House Kids, Macmillan Children's, Scholastic, Phaidon Kids, the Little, Brown Books for Young Readers imprint, and independent publishers (Enchanted Lion Books, Tundra Books, Chronicle Kids). Strengthen the section with published books (title, publisher, year, print run if > 5000 copies), illustration exhibitions (Bologna Children's Book Fair, the Original Art exhibition at the Society of Illustrators NY) and any prizes (Caldecott, Greenaway Medal, Bologna Ragazzi Award). The BD panel of the template works better here than a cold institutional CV.
