Archives: Portfolio

  • How To Pack A Suitcase

    How To Pack A Suitcase

     

    Concept, art direction, video editing, and title design for West Elm

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styling by Elvis Maynard.

    Originally published as “How To Pack A Suitcase”

    Let’s just get this out of the way: nobody likes to pack. Unless you are a next-level organizing fiend with an inexplicable love for tedium, you probably put off filling your suitcase until the very last minute. This might be expedient in the moment, but has a tendency of complicating things once you reach your destination. We’ve all found ourselves hunched over our bag, tossing wrinkled t-shirts onto the floor in an attempt to find a toothbrush. With the holidays right around the corner, packing becomes even more of a challenge—how to pack your clothes, toiletries, and presents into a carry-on? We got you. Here are a few quick tips to simplify your packing + help you feel organized once you get to your destination.

  • How To Decorate Your Bathroom

    How To Decorate Your Bathroom

    Art direction, video editing, and title design for West Elm.

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styling by Marie Sullivan.

  • Party-Ready

    Party-Ready

    Concept, art direction, set design, video editing, and title design for West Elm.

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styling by Elvis Manard.

    Originally published on the West Elm blog as How To Get Your Apartment Party-Ready

    There are certain things that are no-brainers when it comes to throwing a party. Food, drinks, music—check, check, check. But there are some other details that can make all the difference between a snooze-fest and an all-nighter (in a good way).

    Have you ever noticed how guests always corral in the kitchen during parties, only to leave your living room a ghost town? Do you find that people hover for too long near the canapés and cocktails without circulating? The problem could be traffic flow. While your furniture arrangement might work for day-to-day use, a dining table or an inconvenient sectional chaise can cramp things up when things get crowded, forcing people into bottle-necks. Avoid the holiday traffic jam this year and follow these tips for maximizing your cocktail party floor plan.

     

    1

    A floating sofa might look lovely on a normal day, but it’s only in the way during a party. Scoot all of your furniture along the walls for your fête to create a clear flow for walking and enough standing room for everybody to be comfortable. Bonus points: if you re-arrange often, think about investing in a flip sectional like our Eddy model shown here. You can switch the chaise from left to right depending on your layout.

    2

    It may be tempting to artfully arrange food and drinks in a centralized location, but it’s a recipe for overcrowding! Instead, place food and beverages throughout your party space to space people out and subtly encourage mingling. Coffee + side tables are great places to put a bowl or two of snacks.

    3

    Need extra seating? Shift some of your throw pillows from your sofa to the floor for a cozy + casual place to sit down.

    4

    Move your dining chairs to the wall and form seating clusters to foster conversation. Side tables can be moved from the sofa’s edge to these areas for placing drinks and snacks.

    5

    Transform a console into a bar by putting down trays and glassware.

    6

    Swing your dining table against the wall and turn it into an oversized buffet for serving large dishes or punch!

     

  • How To Set A Table

    How To Set A Table

    Concept, art direction, video editing, title design, and writing for West Elm

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styling by Marie Sullivan. Food Styling by Jason Schreiber.

    Originally published for the West Elm blog as “How To Set Your Table for The Holidays”

    If you’re miserable at chopping vegetables and a roasting turkey is best left in somebody else’s care, chances are you’re the type of person who gets tasked with setting the table at holiday dinners. Although this not-quite-thrilling duty is simple (does it really matter where the salad fork goes?), it does present the culinarily challenged a rare opportunity to show off. Follow the simple tips in this video below and you’ll earn extra points with your host and compliments from other dinner guests. “What a lovely table setting! Who did that?” YOU DID.

  • How To Wear A Duvet

    How To Wear A Duvet

    Concepted, written, and photographed for West Elm’s blog, Front + Main.

    Forget sock boots and metallics—the hottest Fall fashion trend that we can’t get enough of is duvets. With a name derived from the French term for down—an allusion to the feathery material that typically fills them—duvets are customarily seen atop lavishly appointed beds and covered in all manner of beautiful fabrics. This season, they’ve come into vogue as a stylish garment—one that can be donned for practically any occasion. Need something to wear for gala season? Duvet. Going out for a quick lunch with the ladies? Duvet. Heading to an important business meeting? Yes way, duvet! While there are myriad ways to style this new wardrobe essential, here are 10 of our favorites.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    1

    The Ball Gown

    The quintessential duvet look. Pair with the shoes and jewelry of your choice, or go without for a bold and minimal look.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    2

    The Chic Scarf

    Make a statement when you hit the streets this fall by tossing your duvet around your neck. Added bonus: it will act as a stylish airbag if you end up tripping on the sidewalk.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    3

    The Lump

    Got a movie night planned with your SO? Go for this elegant seated look.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    4

    The Ghost

    Bad hair day? No need to fret when you’ve got a duvet in your sartorial arsenal. Throw it right over your head to complete this mysterious femme fatale look.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    5

    The Mermaid

    Remember leg warmers? Try an au courant twist to the eighties trend by wrapping a duvet entirely around your lower body.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    6

    The Friday Night

    There is no better way than to celebrate the end of the week than by wearing the season’s must-have item!

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    7

    The Saturday Morning

    Evidence that duvets are your closet’s most versatile item, they can seamlessly shift from day to night and back to day again!

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    8

    The Coffee Line

    Add a duvet to your day and dress up even the most quotidian tasks! This comfortable look will take you from grabbing your morning coffee to powering through a day at the office.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet

    9

    The Puddle

    Favored by trend-setting avant-garde crowds, this look sees the duvet worn atop a sedentary body. Excellent for leisure activities.

    Maxwell Tielman - How To Wear A Duvet10

    The Midnight Snack

    Stunning when bathed in the crystalline light of a refrigerator, this ravishing look will add a touch of intrigue to your late nights.

  • The Way We Eat Now

    The Way We Eat Now

    Created to promote West Elm’s new collections of dinnerware.

    Concept, art direction, set design, video editing, and title design for West Elm.

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styling by Marie Sullivan. Food Styling by Jason Schreiber.

  • Home Renovation Series

    Home Renovation Series

    Concept and Art Direction for an ongoing home renovation series on West Elm’s blog, Front + Main.

    Written by Lisa Przystup.

    Illustrations by Tallulah Fontaine.

    Maxwell Tielman - Home Renovation Series - Illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

    Installments in the series:

    Part 1:
    The Things Nobody Tells You About Buying And Renovating An Old House

    Part 2:
    On Choosing The Perfect White Paint, And What To Do When Your Painter Leaves You Stranded

    Part 3:
    On Spray Painting In Your New Bedroom And Other Questionable Ideas

    Part 4:
    On Making Your New Living Room Livable, And Other Dispatches from Upstate

    Part 5:
    Covering up instead of tearing down, and other sanity-saving tips from a kitchen renovation

    Part 6:
    Things Learned from a New (Old) House

    Part 7:
    Setting Things Straight On A Seriously Crooked Porch

    Part 8:
    The Perfect Dining Room For A Perfectly Imperfect Thanksgiving

    Part 9:
    On (Finally) Getting To Those Guest Bedrooms

    Part 10:
    On Decking Halls and The Merits of Chopping Down Trees

    Part 11:
    However Long You Think It’s Going To Take, Triple It

  • How To Fold A Napkin

    How To Fold A Napkin

    Next-level napkin-folding tips for the social series #AskWestElm.

    Videography by Zack Taylor. Styled by Jason Schreiber.

    Originally published as “3 Seriously Epic Napkin Folding Techniques for Your Table”

    Thanksgiving is about friends, family, and the opportunity to give thanks for the wonderful things in your life. It is also, if you happen to be hosting, a prime time to show off. Yes, you’re excited to see the family members you don’t speak to any other day of the year, but let’s be real: part of you really wants to display how grown-up you are by way of an expertly basted Turkey. Or dang-near-award-winning cranberry sauce. Or—if try as you might, cooking really isn’t in your wheelhouse—perhaps a seriously extra place-setting, courtesy of an origami-like napkin fold. Get out that fabric starch and iron, because these wild napkin-folding techniques will be the talk of the table this holiday season!