Are you getting the most out of LinkedIn? Check out these inspiring examples to take your profile to new heights in 2025.
Looking for clients or your next big creative job? LinkedIn is the place to be! In fact, 35% of survey respondents said a casual conversation on LinkedIn led to a new opportunity. An even higher proportion (61%) agree that regular interaction online can lead to job opportunities. LinkedIn says that seven people are hired every minute on the platform.
Intrigued? Learn some of the best practices and inspiring examples of how to stand out on LinkedIn.
Why LinkedIn matters for designers and other creatives
LinkedIn is the largest online professional network, with over 1 billion members in 200 countries and regions. And it’s not just for corporate professionals, either. Designers and creatives use the platform to advance their businesses.
The most obvious way to use LinkedIn is as an online resume and portfolio. Your LinkedIn profile doubles as your online presence, where you can showcase your work. The Featured section allows you to post visual projects, such as graphic design, UI mockups, or video reels.
However, LinkedIn provides other opportunities beyond your living resume and dynamic portfolio. You can connect with industry leaders, compare notes with peers, and touch base with potential clients. And if you know how to optimize your profile, potential clients can discover you.
How do you do that, exactly? Read on!
Best practices for designers and creatives on LinkedIn
1. Optimize your profile
On LinkedIn, your profile makes the first impression on you, so you want to know how to make the best LinkedIn profile for a graphic designer or other creative. You can stand out by following these tips:
- Write a clear and value-driven headline. Don’t just use a vanilla headline like “graphic designer.” Instead, follow this formula: [title] helping [target audience] to [outcome]. Here are examples:
“Graphic designer helping brands stand out with high-impact designs.”
“Illustrator helping book authors bring their characters to life.”
“UX designer helping tech companies craft intuitive digital experiences that drive results.”
- Use a professional photo that shows your personality. Remember to look at the camera and smile!
- Make the most of the About Section. Use this to tell your story and highlight your expertise, passion, and unique approach to your work.
- Take advantage of the Featured Section. Populate this with key projects that show off your best work. Remember to include concise descriptions to give context to the samples. You can also link to an online portfolio for additional examples.
- Create a custom URL. Editing your LinkedIn URL makes it more professional and easier to remember. An example: linkedin.com/in/janedoe-graphicdesigner
Below, you can see that Saira Shakeel wastes no time telling visitors what she does and what projects she’s open to. This is one way to make a graphic designer bio for LinkedIn.
You don’t have to create a custom LinkedIn banner from scratch. You can whip up one by customizing a template from Envato. Here are some examples:
2. Leverage LinkedIn recommendations
Add credibility to your profile by showing that clients and colleagues value you and your work. To get meaningful recommendations, follow these tips:
- Give first. To get recommendations, it helps to give them first!
- Ask for specific feedback. Ask a client to mention how your design increased their sales (assuming it did).
- Focus on skills. Ask for recommendations to mention specific skills you want to be known for, such as your creativity, attention to detail, and responsive communication.
Check out the high number of skills recommendations on designer Jessica Walsh’s profile:
3. Share your work effectively
LinkedIn offers different tools you can use to highlight your projects and show off your work. These include:
- Carousels. With a carousel post, you can show before-and-after transformations of designs. You can also show step-by-step design or art development processes. A quick tip: use LinkedIn templates from Envato to create professional-looking carousels.
- Featured Section. As mentioned above, you can add case studies, images, or portfolio links so potential clients can explore your work.
- Videos. Show time-lapse videos, animations, or behind-the-scenes videos of your creative process. Don’t forget to show the final result.
When it comes to carousels specifically, getting the opening right is crucial: “The first slide stops the scroll. The second convinces them to swipe. If you don’t get those right, nothing else matters. Most carousels fail because they open with weak intros or generic titles. That’s exactly what I wanted to fix when building a tool to help non-designers create content that actually performs.”, says Fernando Pessagno, Founder of aiCarousels.
Designer Jesse Parrotti’s profile shows an example of how you can showcase your work in the Featured Section:
4. Post thoughtful content to establish your expertise
Post content that establishes you as a thought leader in your industry. You’re not just someone who churns out creative work, after all. Here are a few examples:
- Creative insights. Share your thoughts on trends, tools, or issues in your particular industry. For instance, you could post about “3 design fails in 2024” or “7 exciting trends in 2025.”
- Case studies. With the client’s permission, write about a project you worked on. Cover the problem, solution, and results you achieved for them.
- Polls and questions. Ask your connections and followers to comment on topics in your area of expertise.
In this post, freelance copywriter Leanne Regalla challenges conventional wisdom:
Also, please note Leanne’s custom URL for her LinkedIn profile.
Here’s another example of a post that establishes your expertise by giving tips. This comes to us via Sommer Poquette, a social media expert.
Having a visual brand for your posts not only makes them stand out from the LinkedIn stream—it also makes your posts instantly recognizable. With a vast library of templates on Envato, you’ll find one that matches your branding. Here are a few of our favorite LinkedIn post templates:
5. Engage authentically to grow your network
Remember that LinkedIn is an online network. That means its core is all about connecting and engaging others. The platform will reward you for provoking activity among your circle of influence. Here are some ways to engage:
- Personalize connection requests. When asking to connect with someone, include a message that shows you’ve put thought and consideration into your request. For example, “Hi Ruby, I admire your work in branding and would love to connect to exchange ideas.”
- Comment on posts. Make your presence known by giving thoughtful comments on other people’s posts.
- Participate in groups. Join relevant groups in your niche and make time to engage with them. This should include groups where your ideal clients hang out, not just groups of other creatives like you.
Posting and responding to polls like this is one way to be active in a group:
Creator spotlight: Niki Leonidou
Niki is an illustrator and graphic designer who specializes in children’s books. One look at her LinkedIn profile makes this clear. Naturally, she uses one of her illustrations for her cover banner.
Her Featured Section showcases her whimsical style that’s perfect for children’s books:
And her posts are visually delicious peeks into her finished works. They leave you wanting to see more.
Creator Spotlight: Kristin Sukraw
As a storyteller, Kristin is adept at using LinkedIn’s various features to showcase her expertise. Right off the bat, we know that she’s a book author and was recently promoted.
This post is just one example of how Kristin engages her connections by stimulating discussion around her niche: nonprofit storytelling.
She establishes her thought leadership by sharing about her speaking engagements and training humbly:
Creator Spotlight: Aneta Pasiud
Aneta only recently went full-time into her graphic design business. Of course, she announced it on LinkedIn:
She is a prime example of posting videos to generate interest and engagement with her content. And for good reason: according to LinkedIn, video is one of the fastest growing formats on LinkedIn; viewership has increased by 36% compared to the previous year.
Aside from posting videos about her work, Aneta also writes energetically and engagingly. It’s no wonder her posts get reactions and comments:
You can always start with a video template if video is not your strong suit.
Polish your LinkedIn presence today
Now you know how to stand out on LinkedIn, the largest professional social network that can help you land more gigs or find your next job. Optimize your profile, leverage recommendations, share your work effectively, post thoughtful content that drives engagement, and interact with others authentically. Those are all the ways to maximize LinkedIn for designers and other creative professionals.
You can also dive deeper into how to use LinkedIn effectively and explore more LinkedIn tips and tutorials here on the blog. If you need creative elements to jazz up your profile and posts, explore the various LinkedIn templates on Envato. They’ll make it easier for you to polish your visual branding on LinkedIn and everywhere else.
