The role of the art director is increasingly strategic. It is not (only) a question of designing a product but of building a narrative around it. As did Margherita Rui for the rebranding of Dante Negro, a Venetian company specializing in metalworking

What a company asks of an art director is a perception, distinctive and recognizable. The perception of those who relate, physically and digitally, always or for the first time, with the brand.

It is not a question of proposing projects, systems and products only, but of building a narrative around them: a story of identity. That request is therefore a fluid communication, transversal to the media and areas, which includes photographic projects, catalog, website, social networks, stands, everything. A vision, rooted in tradition, which draws on the knowledge and specific manufacturing characteristics of the company, but which then knows how to dare.

As they did Federica Biasi for Decoratori Bassanesi (read here), Chiara Andreatti for Radici Group (read here) and how it did it clearly - surprising and extremely elegant - Margherita Rui with Dogtrot studio for Dante Negro that from a simple company of decorative wrought iron furniture has evolved into a contemporary reality capable of giving - impact - a personal and personalized way of living. Thanks to the image, in fact.

A story to forge

Just scroll through Dante Negro's social networks to immediately perceive the detachment, the visual and communicative leap brought about by the creative work of Margherita Rui, designer and founder with Alessandro Rado of Dogtrot studio, a multidisciplinary reality that deals with communication and design, strategic consulting and creative direction.

The hetitage has not changed, the historical collection c ' is still although revisited, the protagonists are always - without ' shadow of doubt - metals and their craftsmanship and hi-tech manufacturing. What has been made is a contamination, material, design, but above all aesthetic. The style is subtracted, essential but balanced, contemporary and at the same time archaic, timeless.

To be emphasized are the indoor and outdoor furnishings that become bespoke architectural structures to inhabit. The manufacturing knowledge and the deep knowledge of wrought iron have always been , since 1975 for the exactly, the metamorphosis is, in fact, in the image.

Read also: the photographic project by Federica Biasi for Decoratori Bassanesi

Dolmen as a living archetype

Dolmen, presented on the occasion of Edit Napoli 2022, inaugurates the collection dedicated to contemporary furnishings. It is a project with a marked image, defined yet versatile, which wants to revisit the very idea of outdoor living.

Starting from the primordial concept of housing archetype, Margherita Rui has reinterpreted the gazebo, elevating it from product to place , creating a new domestic dimension, a habitat that welcomes and shelters.

Read also: Chiara Andreatti for Radici Contract

An outdoor interior, primordial and at the same time visionary

With a primitive charm but with a visionary style, Dolmen presents itself as an emblem of biomorphism: enveloping shapes, organic geometries, natural colors and sustainable fabrics integrate the design of the gazebo, completed by sculptural furnishing accessories, to the landscape surrounding, creating an outdoor interior that establishes a deep connection with nature.

Read also: the Tubes catalog with art direction by Studio MiLo

A gazebo (furnished) that moves away from the classic stylistic features of the twentieth century

Dolmen pushes Dante Negro's know-how to the maximum in iron processing: the material is molded into the shapes and beaten on the ribbons to create an essential expressive effect, far from the classic stylistic features of the twentieth century gazebos.

But Dolmen is not just wrought iron. It is a multi-material project: bush-hammered glass, marble and fabric have been chosen for the accessories that complete the collection, table and chair.

The processing of matter

The cultured and sophisticated art direction work undertaken by Margherita Rui for Dante Negro, which in addition to the Dolmen system includes a catalog, website and social network, brings craftsmanship back to primary value. Moving away from the aesthetics of the industrial product, the entire project tells the potential of wrought iron and the charm of its rough, iridescent, irregular surface.

A new stage in the artistic direction path

The Dolmen project represents a new stage in the creative direction path that Margherita Rui is carrying out. The outdoor collection that transforms pergolas and gazebos with decorations and squiggles into contemporary architectural structures will in fact be enriched by projects signed by various designers who will join the Heritage line, recently revisited by the designer, and at the service Custom.