When I was a student, I had no idea how I was going to get a job. In order to get a job, I needed to have experience; in order to get experience, I needed to have a job. Any internship worth getting also seemed to require working experience.

Or so I thought.

One of the best ways to gain working experience was to do side projects. You could show your thought process, your initiative, and your abilities without any application or interview process.

Once I figured this out, I made a bunch of projects.

It’s easy to forget this as the years go by; whether a project pays you well, or not, it’s going to open new doors for you. 

If you keep doing the same types of projects, you’re going to keep getting the same types of work. So if you feel stuck, try new projects.

Everything you’re working on is a case study for something you’ll work on in the future.

See Virgil Abloh describing Off-White as a case study to modernize and steer a fashion house. Abloh would go on to join Louis Vuitton as its artistic director of menswear. See also 8 lessons on creativity from Virgil Abloh.