About

Each project needs its own voice.

I work as an illustrator, building images and visual languages around the content, audience and identity of each project. Visual approach, technique and tone may change; what I aim to keep recognisable is the way I think about and construct an image.

Rome · ItalyEditorial illustration · books · commissions

Alberto Ruggieri in his Rome studio at his digital drawing desk

Method

The visual language grows out of the project.

I start with the text, the editorial context and what the image needs to do. Sometimes that calls for an immediate metaphor; other times, a narrative scene, a system of symbols, a character or a more painterly approach. I don’t try to fit every brief into a ready-made formula.

What interests me most is finding a synthesis that works immediately while still leaving room for narrative, ambiguity and the viewer’s own response. This approach allows me to work across health, psychology, politics, economics, sustainability, literature and a wide range of other subjects without treating them all in the same way.

Trust over time

Many collaborations have not simply lasted. They have evolved.

For me, reliability does not mean repeating what has already worked. It often means being invited back to work in a different editorial context, for a different audience or with a new editorial identity.

Long-term collaborations

Continuity as a form of trust.

Avvenimenti1989 · from issue no. 4 · over ten years

current affairs · culture · society · around two illustrations a week

My first professional illustrations appeared in Avvenimenti in March 1989, starting with issue no. 4. That was the beginning of a collaboration lasting more than ten years, often at a pace of around two images a week. It was a real training ground: I learned the job by working, experimenting and engaging with very different subjects. It is also a publication I remain particularly attached to.

Repubblica / Il Venerdìculture · portraiture · opinion · sustainability

Mercurio → Musica → Il Venerdì → Vizi & Virtù → Affari & Finanza → Green Heroes

Over the years, the collaboration has spanned very different editorial contexts: from the cultural supplement Mercurio to painted portraits of musicians for Musica; from prominent opening illustrations for Il Venerdì to Piero Ottone’s weekly column Vizi & Virtù, which I illustrated for around ten years; from portraits of managers and entrepreneurs for Affari & Finanza through to Green Heroes. Each new assignment calls for a different, recognisable visual language within a professional relationship built over time.

Corriere della Seranews · health · culture and education

Cronache → Corriere Salute → Ultimo Banco

I have worked regularly with Corriere della Sera since 2013. Over time, the assignments have been very different: illustrations for news and current affairs, the weekly covers of Corriere Salute, and the visual dialogue with Alessandro D’Avenia’s articles for Ultimo Banco. Deadlines, subjects and visual approaches change; the relationship continues to evolve through new editorial responsibilities.

Riza Psicosomatica2008 →

monthly covers · theme of the month · editorial

I have worked continuously with Riza Psicosomatica since 2008. The challenge is to maintain a voice consistent with the magazine’s identity without turning it into a formula: new subjects, new metaphors and new images every month within a recognizable visual system.

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Behind the selection

The projects shown here are only part of the story.

Over more than thirty-five years I have produced thousands of illustrations for newspapers, magazines, books, companies and institutions in Italy and abroad. This site focuses on recent projects and on those that best reflect the way I work; it is not intended as a complete archive.

Alongside my editorial work, I have worked extensively with companies and communications agencies on print and outdoor advertising campaigns, house magazines, corporate publications and below-the-line projects. I have worked with agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Armando Testa, Roncaglia e Wijkander, Grey Worldwide, Ogilvy & Mather and Publicis, on projects for Italian and international companies.

For around twenty years, part of my work was distributed internationally through The Image Bank and, later, Corbis and Getty Images, reaching publishers, newspapers, graphic design studios and companies in many countries.

Clients & collaborations

Newspapers, magazines & media

AvvenimentiCorriere della SeraEditori del GrifoEconomia & Management · SDA BocconiFrigidaireIl Sole 24 OreLa Repubblica / Il VenerdìLa StampaL’EspressoLiberalMercedes MagazinePanorama EconomyPlayboy ItaliaRifondazioneRiza PsicosomaticaTecniche Nuove

Publishers

BeltzEditori RiunitiEspasaFeltrinelliHachetteIl MulinoLaterzaLes Éditions QuébecorMondadoriOdile JacobPanini RagazziRAI-ERISperling & KupferWolters Kluwer

Companies

AbbottAceaACTAGIPBanca di RomaBank of ScotlandBuffettiCinecittà 2Coca-ColaCONOUDaewooFiera di RomaFinsielFusionGallagher ItaliaGANGruppo PellegriniGruppo ProLastminuteMcKinseyNokiaProcter & GambleRenaultSanofiSNAISTATecresTelecom

Institutions & organisations

30 Ore per la VitaANICAANLAIDSANSACaritasCittadinanza AttivaComune di RomaFAT-CISLFLC CGIL / CGIL ScuolaISPESLLegambienteMOIGE

Alongside commissions

Drawing, painting, teaching.

For more than twenty years I have combined my professional practice with teaching at IED in Rome, working with illustration students on painting techniques and the development of a personal visual language. For eight years I also taught at RUFA, where I worked with graphic design students on the use of illustration, studying the work of other illustrators and producing images independently.

The dialogue between digital tools and traditional media continues to be part of the way I think about images.

Contact → Press archive →