Arena magazine relaunched

The men’s magazine Arena is being relaunched this week, with design by creative director Balwant Ahira, formerly of Elle Decoration, The Observer Magazine, Nova and Time Out.

British graphic designer Neville Brody created Arena’s original look in 1986, helping to popularise the typeface Helvetica.

‘Arena is the title that made me want to get into magazines in the first place,’ claims Ahira. ‘It has been a huge honour to redesign one of the most iconic magazine brands of all time.’

Arena editor Giles Hattersley hopes to reposition the magazine as ‘the premium man’s lifestyle magazine for urban playboys in their late 20s to mid 30s’.

The December issue, which went on sale on Tuesday this week, features a cover shoot with David Beckham, and new sections Intelligence (current affairs), Handbook (a consumer guide), Review (on culture) and Life (on travel).

Founded 21 years ago, the Emap publication has five international editions distributed in Denmark, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore and Turkey.