AM Serie 610

Serie 610 is an all-caps typeface with a striking feature: all letters and glyphs are divided into an upper black half and a lower white half on a black band. In keeping with the Art Deco tendency of the 1930s, the letterforms are based on straight lines and circles. Notable shapes are the round apex of A, the ‘horseshoe’ N, and the vertical tail of Q. Serie 610 was produced as a wood type by Xilografia Milanese (Milan) in the 1930s, and was released in several body sizes ranging from 3 to 40 lines (roughly 36–500 points). We know that the company also manufactured typecases, miniature cabinets (containing cases of different designs of type) and other items for printers. We don’t know when the company was founded, but it advertised in the famous Campo Grafico magazine from 1936 onwards, and closed its offices in 1968. [c-a-s-t.com]