Neville Brody Art Directs Arena Homme +

Legendary UK graphic designer Neville Brody has returned to magazine design as Art Director of the new issue of Arena Homme +. Brody is best known for his hugely influential work as Art Director of The Face and Arena during the 80s. You might say he invented the style magazine template. Arena Homme + Edition 32 ‘Popaganda’celebrates the iconic stylist Ray Petri, a close friend of Brody, and the spirit of the Buffalo fashion movement. Jo-Ann Furniss editor in chief at Arena Homme + says, “ Neville commissioned much of the original buffalo output, and is the most iconic Art Director of The Face and founding Art Director of Arena. It took a fair amount of arm twisting to get Neville to do a magazine again. But as can be seen, the results are as brilliant as ever. It’s a great pleasure to work with him.” 

Brody designed two custom typefaces for the magazine Buffalo and Popaganda which will be available commercially soon. Brody’s focus was to take the magazine into a more masculine space with simple, strong layouts which complement commissioned stories from the magazines photography and styling contributors; Juergen Teller, Alisdair McLellan, Nicola Formichettiti, Simon Foxton, Nick Knight, Willy Vanderperre and Olivier Rizzo, as well as reuniting with original buffalo photographers Jamie Morgan, Roger Charity, Mark Lebon and stylists Barry Kamen and Mitzi Lorenz.

I can see where they are coming from, they have certainly succeeded in creating a strong, masculine look, and it is full of buffalo-era visual cues. I really like some of the lay-outs, others, not so much. But that’s the great thing about Arena Homme +, they always push the design and typography in new directions. Sometimes it’s fantastic, some times it leaves me cold, but it’s always risky and dangerous. Which is what you want in a men’s fashion magazine. See more of Brody’s issue  here