MacFadden & Thorpe

MacFadden & Thorpe MacFadden & Thorpe is a graphic design studio based in northern California

Cinco! THE QUARTERLY REPORT, ISSUE NO. 5 is launching this weekend at the LA Art Book Fair  in Pasadena this weekend May...
05/06/2026

Cinco!
THE QUARTERLY REPORT, ISSUE NO. 5 is launching this weekend at the LA Art Book Fair in Pasadena this weekend May 7-10. You can get it at the fair or online at TheQuarterlyReport.com

Contributors: 
 
 Kate Sweeney
 Mila De La Torre 
  Griff Williams
 Matt Muir
 Tauba Auerbach
 Sarah Hotchkiss
     Mike Simpson
 Rita Bullwinkel

VCS Riso!  For this year’s  symposium we decided to do a run of Riso posters at the school FlatLab. With Riso printing y...
04/09/2026

VCS Riso!

For this year’s symposium we decided to do a run of Riso posters at the school FlatLab. With Riso printing you print each spot color one layer at a time, and since there wasn’t an available green in the lab to match our original design, we overprinted layers of yellow and kelly green to approximate it. Then added in a red tongue and topped it all off with black. Perfect registration was elusive!

Identity/Poster design for the 2026  Symposium. This is the 10th year (!) we’ve done the system for VCS, and for the pas...
04/08/2026

Identity/Poster design for the 2026 Symposium. This is the 10th year (!) we’ve done the system for VCS, and for the past couple the students have mood-boarded out themes and ideas for us, which has been fun and a little wild. Flip through for a few of the reference images they provided, which we threw into our design blender to come out with this year’s stuff. The dog is named Wolfgang and he’s very real and presumably in charge.

riday field trip to the Bay Model in Sausalito. The Bay Model is exactly what it sounds like—a scale model of the San Fr...
03/28/2026

riday field trip to the Bay Model in Sausalito.

The Bay Model is exactly what it sounds like—a scale model of the San Francisco Bay, stretching from the Pacific Ocean deep into the Sacramento Delta, and originally used by the Army Core of Engineers to study tidal flows, sediment, and the impact of landfill and infrastructure on the region’s waterways. It was built 1957 and expanded in 1966-69, and wow, it’s huge! The model uses a series of hydraulic pumps to mimic the in-and-out flow of tides, and hundreds (maybe thousands?) of copper tabs inserted into the ‘seafloor’ which approximate friction of salt and fresh water colliding in the estuary. It’s all quite a monument to the ingenuity of science, engineering, and design.

Hotel Retro: now out from  – Hotel Retro reproduces 330 vintage luggage labels from the Letterform Archive collection, a...
03/13/2026

Hotel Retro: now out from
– 
Hotel Retro reproduces 330 vintage luggage labels from the Letterform Archive collection, and Yes! they are actually stickers that you can peal off and put on your own luggage, laptop, scrapbook, fridge, heirloom s***f box, etc etc. So much incredible design in here from the golden age of travel.
– 
Big thanks to .chau for bringing us in on this. And to Lucy, Stephen, Molly, Mason & Rob at LA for making this beautiful book happen.

45 years of bold storytelling. 🎬✨Founded in 1980, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the world’s longest-running ...
12/18/2025

45 years of bold storytelling. 🎬✨

Founded in 1980, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is the world’s longest-running independent Jewish film festival—and for their 45th anniversary, we were honored to help shape the look and feel of this milestone moment.

We developed a dynamic identity and campaign to spotlight 70 films across theaters throughout the Bay Area, using gradients and sequential typography on deep black fields—evoking light, film frames, and the immersive intimacy of the cinema itself.

A celebration of focus, atmosphere, and stories meant to be seen in the dark.

Event photos: Pat Mazzera

Curator Apsara DiQuinzio of the Nevada Art Museum came to us with an interesting challenge for her exhibition of Austral...
07/24/2024

Curator Apsara DiQuinzio of the Nevada Art Museum came to us with an interesting challenge for her exhibition of Australian First Nations artists. Can we make the signage less toxic and more sustainable by avoiding the default of PVC wall vinyl? We proposed a number of options, from hand-painting to framed posters, and landed on this—printing on cotton canvas which is hung on custom (reusable) cedar hangers that were designed and built by Ben Laramie. Because the schedule was tight and we’ll do whatever it takes, we drove them up to Reno a few days before the opening. This provided an opportunity to see the beautiful museum and eat a not-great sub before slogging back down I-80. Museum part is highly recommended.

Launching today at the SFABF, we’re beyond happy to announce the next iteration of The THING Quarterly in the form of Th...
07/17/2024

Launching today at the SFABF, we’re beyond happy to announce the next iteration of The THING Quarterly in the form of The Thing Quarterly Report. It’s a publication in the form of… a publication. We worked with the THING and MT alum Felix Talkin on the publication, and with dear collaborator Jared Smith on the Report’s website and an update to the orginal THING site. Dang, in a week where you might need some good news, here it is!

Contributors include:

(Sam Green) 
(janet Hsieh)
  (Chris Ohlson) 
  (Alicia McCarthy) 
(Eamon Ore-Giron)
(Hilary Pecis)
   (Ken Kagami) 
  (Will rogan) 
(Jonn Herschend) 
  (The quarterly Report)    

TTQR is available at this weekend’s Art Book Fair—aka the social event of the year—and at their website  www.thequarterlyreport.com

Nick Dong’s work explores the intersection of spirituality and the tangible world through objects and installations ting...
07/10/2024

Nick Dong’s work explores the intersection of spirituality and the tangible world through objects and installations tinged with a sense of magic. For his solo show at YBCA we created an identity and campaign that referenced the work through flowing typography, paired with wall graphics printed in iridescent holographic material, so a spectrum of color would follow alongside the viewer as they passed. Currently up at YBCA through August 25.

 Summer ‘24 Member’s Calendar. Cover image: ‘Choir’ by . From the fantastic Art of Noise show currently up at the museum...
05/17/2024

Summer ‘24 Member’s Calendar. Cover image: ‘Choir’ by . From the fantastic Art of Noise show currently up at the museum.

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Corte Madera, CA
94925

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 6pm

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