Studio Serico

Founded in 1969, the Serico studio became one of the most structured and culturally aware entities in the field of graphic design and visual communication in the province of Macerata, within the Italian region of Marche. At the time, local graphic design was often handled directly by print shops, driven more by necessity than by aesthetic choice. Serico distinguished itself with a new approach to communication—more thoughtful, coordinated, and culturally informed.

Among the studio’s founding members were prominent figures from both political and creative spheres: Enrico Lattanzi, regional secretary of the Italian Communist Party, contributed strategic insights to content development, while designers Renato Camertoni and Carlo Marchionni shaped the studio’s visual and design direction. This combination of political intent and graphic sensibility led to a body of work defined by coherence, design discipline, and a strong focus on visual language. The studio had a dual mission: to modernize institutional communication on the local level and to convey messages of civic engagement and informational clarity, using a language aligned with the contemporary debate surrounding public utility graphics. The projects selected here reflect the dominant currents of Italian socially oriented design of the period, particularly the work of Michele Spera for the PRI and Massimo Dolcini—personally acquainted with Lattanzi—for the municipality of Pesaro. Both were representative figures, in different ways, of the public utility graphics movement.

The body of work presented, spanning from 1979 to 1984, offers direct testimony of these trends. The posters, produced using photocomposition techniques and Letraset transferable typefaces, show great care in layout and visual hierarchy. Printing was done using lithographic techniques at Sagretti and Lanfranco Ciocca print shops.

In the poster designed for a Legambiente conference in 1984, the Serico name disappears, replaced by the new brand name Iceberg. This “rebranding” came hand in hand with a major internal transformation: some members left the project, while others stayed on and contributed to its evolution. New professionals—including architects and consultants—joined, bringing interdisciplinary skills that allowed the studio to expand its services from graphic design to integrated consultancy for corporate identity.

What continued to set Iceberg apart was its ability to combine design clarity with local sensitivity, offering a model of communication in which the identity of local companies was reinterpreted through a social and cultural lens. The studio didn’t simply “promote” its clients—it sought to convey their human value and their role in the community, using visual language that was consistent with the values of the time.


Oral sources: Conversation with Enrico Lattanzi, director of the MAGMA museum in Civitanova Alta (MC), 08/05/2025