Only few graphic designers who created Brazilian record covers in the sixties are known by their names like Paulo Brèves, Tide Hellmeister, Mafra, Sérgio Malta, Maurício, Antônio Melero, César G. Villela, Joselito, Moacyr Rocha — and Eddie Moyna.
Even less is known about their biographies but thanks to the courtesy of his son Carlos this website’s usual routine of featuring memorable songs is gladly interrupted in favour of featuring a man who designed some of Brazil’s most memorable record covers:
Eddie Moyna Silvestre (1934–1984) was born in Santiago de Chile with a Chilean father and an Uruguayan mother. In the first year of his life, Moyna’s parents moved to Montevideo. At the age of 19, he moved to Brazil, first to Porto Alegre then on to São Paulo. There, he secured a grant to study graphic design at the University of Tucson, Arizona, which he completed with studies in New York. After a short return to Montevideo, Moyna finally settled in Rio de Janeiro to marry his wife Vera whom he had got to know back in Arizona.
Book covers for As As Noites Marcianas by Fausto Cunha (1960) and Fuga Para Parte Alguma by Jerônymo Monteiro (1961)
O Valete de Espadas by Gerardo Mello Mourão (1965) and A Cabeça de Papa by Macedo Miranda (1962)
Guia Mapa de Gabriel Arcanjo by Nelida Piñon (1961)
Brazilian editions of A Case of Conscience by James Blish (1962) and The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle (1962)
After initial jobs including working as a sailor on a cargo ship, Moyna vocationally gained ground in the advertising industry with designing book covers amongst other things. In the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for some of Brazil’s biggest media companies, last for Globo TV in the 1980s. Throughout his career, he always explored his creativity in various areas of design. In the early 1970s and early 1980s, for example, he designed the prototype of a sports car called Coruja S-1 and the buggy Terral which entered series production.
Coruja S-1
Terral
To music connaisseurs Eddie Moyna will always be best known for his distinguished record covers for Imperial, Philips, Odeon, Forma and particularly Elenco.
Lennie Dale e O Sambalanço Trio (1965, Elenco ME-21) with photographs by Francisco Pereira and Paulo Lorgus
Founded by Aloysio de Oliveira in 1963 and sold to Polygram in 1968, Elenco enjoyed only five years of independent existence but right away it became iconic for its records as well as for their covers. Oliveira’s ambition was to join the biggest names of Bossa Nova, hence the name Elenco which translates into ‘cast’, and by achieving this Elenco became one of Brazil’s most influential labels..
Elenco’s covers are instantly recognisable with their distinctive visual identity that was effectively accomplished with only a few simple elements: high contrasted photographs or illustrations in black and white combined with expressive font types and accentuated mostly with red as sole colour.
Nâna (1965, Elenco ME-25) with illustration by J. C. Mello Menezes
The visual approach was to capture the music in a graphic translation that helped create a signature corporate branding making the covers in the record stores stand out from the rest. Like everything new, exciting and successful, the Elenco style was of course soon copied by other labels.
Once created, the style was used consistently on every single and album release with Eddie Moyna and César G. Villela as the most prominent designers, mainly along with J. C. Mello Menezes as illustrator and Paulo Lorgus and Francisco Pereira as photographers.
It was probably the latter, longtime friend Francisco Cândido Pereira Neto, who introduced Moyna to someone in charge at Elenco. After all, Pereira’s apartment in Copacabana was one of the places where Bossa Nova artists, like Roberto Menescal with whom Pereira shared the hobby of spearfishing, and their supporters used to meet to share new songs or just to have a chat.
Ao Vivo no Teatro Santa Rosa (1966, Elenco ME-30) with photographs by Francisco Pereira and Paulo Lorgus
Rio, Capital da Bossa Nova (1965, Elenco, ME-18) with photograph by Francisco Pereira
De Vinicius e Baden Especialmente para Ciro Monteiro (1965, Elenco ME-24) with illustration by J.C. Mello Menezes and photographs by Paulo Lorgus
Músicas de Billy Blanco na Voz do Próprio (1966, Elenco ME-29) with photograph by Francisco Pereira or Paulo Lorgus
Vinícius e Caymmi no Zum Zum (1965, Elenco ME-23) with photographs by Francisco Pereira and Paulo Lorgus
The Music of Mr Jobim by Sylvia Telles (1965, Elenco MEV-5) with photograph by Francisco Pereira
A Música de Edu Lobo por Edu Lobo (1965, Elenco ME-19) with photographs by Francisco Pereira
Jazz Series: Cannonball Adderley with Gil Evans and his Orchestra (1965, Elenco MEV-3) and Jazz Series: Dizzy Gillespie & Gil Fuller (1965, Elenco MEV-7) with illustrations by J. C. Mello Menezes
Ao Meu Rio (1965, Elenco ME-22) with illustration by J.C. Mello Menezes
Agostinho dos Santos (1966, Elenco ME-26) with illustration by J.C. Mello Menezes
Dick Farney (1964, Elenco ME-15) with photographs by Francisco Pereira and Paulo Lorgus
Dick Farney: Piano – Orquestra: Gaya (1966, Elenco ME-27) with photographs by Francisco Pereira and Paulo Lorgus
Kaleidoscópio No. 2 (1967, Elenco SE-1002) with photographs by Francisco Pereira
Caymmi Visita Tom (1965, Elenco ME-17) with photographs by Francisco Pereira
Carlos Machado Apresenta Rio de 400 Janeiros (1965, Elenco ME-20)
Bossa Nova York (1964, Elenco MEV-2)
The Astrud Gilberto Album (1965, Elenco MEV-4)
Reencontro (1966, Elenco ME-31)
Trechos de Júlio Cesar de William Shakespeare (1966, Elenco ME-28)
Bud Shank/Donato/Rosinha (1965, MEV-8)
The record cover artwork attributable to Moyna dates 1964 to 1968 including Elenco from 1964 to 1967. From 1967 on, Moyna’s record designs diminished with covers for Odeon and Forma, before he focused on other fields of work in the ensuing years.
As graphic designer at Elenco, Moyna was fortunate to be part of an influential team that expressed the modernity of a musical era with timeless designs that still have not lost their relevance. Even though in retrospect the Elenco covers are arguably his most distinctive work, there are other record designs to take notice of equally such as the bold Dom Um by Dom Um Romão or the vibrant Samba… Ôba by Ivan Paulo da Silva aka Maestro Carioca, both perfectly reflecting the music inside the cover.
Dom Um (1964, Philips P 632.713 L) with photographs by Francisco Pereira
Samba… Ôba (1964, Imperial IMP 30.048) with photograph by Sampaio
Luli (1966, Philips P 632.767 L) with photographs by Luiz Fernando
Musicanossa – O Som & O Tempo (1968, Odeon MOFB-3532) with photographs by Rubens L. Richter
Luiz Eça & Cordas (1965, Philips P 632.738 L) with photographs by Francisco Pereira
Musicanossa (1968, Forma 108 VDL)
A chronological but certainly not exhaustive list of Eddie Moyna’s record cover artwork:
1964
- Imperial IMP 30.048 → Samba… Ôba by Carioca
- Philips P 632.713 L → Dom Um by Dom Um Romão
- Elenco ME-15 → Dick Farney by Dick Farney
- Elenco MEV-2 → Bossa Nova York by Sérgio Mendes Trio with Antônio Carlos Jobim, Phil Wood, Art Farmer and Hubert Laws → original release of The Swinger from Rio (1965, Atlantic [USA] 1434)
1965
- Elenco ME-17 → Caymmi Visita Tom by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Dorival Caymmi
- Elenco ME-18 → Rio, Capital da Bossa Nova by Baden Powell, Sylvia Telles, Lúcio Alves, Vinícius de Moraes, Odette Lara, Roberto Menescal, Antônio Carlos Jobim and Rosinha de Valença
- Elenco ME-19 → A Música de Edu Lobo por Edu Lobo by Edú Lobo
- Elenco ME-20 → Carlos Machado Apresenta Rio de 400 Janeiros by Lindolpho Gaya
- Elenco ME-21 → Lennie Dale e O Sambalanço Trio by Lennie Dale and Sambalanço Trio
- Elenco ME-22 → Ao Meu Rio by Mário Reis
- Elenco ME-23 → Vinícius e Caymmi no Zum Zum by Vinícius de Moraes, Dorival Caymmi, Oscar Castro Neves and Quarteto em Cy
- Elenco ME-24 → De Vinicius e Baden Especialmente para Ciro Monteiro by Cyro Monteiro
- Elenco ME-25 → Nâna by Nana Caymmi
- Elenco MEV-3 → Jazz Series – Cannonball Adderley with Gil Evans and his Orchestra by Julian ‘Cannonball’ Adderley and Gil Evans → Brazilian release of New Bottle Old Wine (1958, World Pacific [USA] WP 1246)
- Elenco MEV-4 → The Astrud Gilberto Album by Astrud Gilberto with Antônio Carlos Jobim and Marty Paich → Brazilian release of The Astrud Gilberto Album (1965, Verve Records [USA] V-8608)
- Elenco MEV-5 → The Music of Mr Jobim by Sylvia Telles by Sylvia Telles → Brazilian release of Sylvia Telles Sings the Wonderful Songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim (1965, Kapp Records [USA] KS-3451)
- Elenco MEV-7 → Jazz Series – Dizzy Gillespie & Gil Fuller by Dizzy Gillespie and Gil Fuller → Brazilian release of Gil Fuller & the Monterey Jazz Festival Orchestra featuring Dizzy Gillespie (1965, Pacific Jazz [USA] PJ93)
- Elenco MEV-8 → Bud Shank/Donato/Rosinha by Bud Shank, João Donato and Rosinha de Valença → Brazilian release of Bud Shank & His Brazilian Friends (1965, Pacific Jazz Records [USA] ST-89)
- Philips P 632.738 L → Luiz Eça & Cordas by Luiz Eça
1966
- Elenco ME-26 → Agostinho dos Santos by Agostinho dos Santos
- Elenco ME-27 → Dick Farney: Piano – Orquestra: Gaya by Dick Farney and Lindolpo Gaya
- Elenco ME-28 → Trechos de Júlio Cesar de William Shakespeare by Carlos Lacerda
- Elenco ME-29 → Músicas de Billy Blanco na Voz do Próprio by Billy Blanco
- Elenco ME-30 → Ao Vivo no Teatro Santa Rosa by Baden Powell
- Elenco ME-31 → Reencontro by Sylvia Telles, Edú Lobo, Tamba Trio & Quinteto Villa-Lobos
- Philips P 632.767 L → Luli by Luli
1967
- Elenco SE-1002 → Kaleidoscópio No. 2 by Dorival Caymmi, Lúcio Alves, Nara Leão, Roberto Menescal, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Baden Powell, Dick Farney, Norma Bengell, Rosinha de Valença, Vinícius de Moraes, Sylvia Telles, Maysa and Sérgio Ricardo
1968
- Forma 108 VDL → Musicanossa by Agora 4, Johnny Alf, Jorge Nery, Magda, Regininha, Roberto Menescal and Zé Luiz
- Odeon MOFB-3532 → Musicanossa – O Som & O Tempo by Taiguara, Franklin, Mariá, Grupo o Trevo, Luiza and Beth Carvalho
Playlist compiled from some of the featured albums:
My very special thanks go to Carlos Henrique Moyna whose kind participation was prerequisite for the making.
Sources of verification for album artwork not credited to Eddie Moyna on the sleeve design: Bossa Nova e Outras Bossas by Caetano Rodrigues and Charles Gavin (Petrobas, 2005), and Elenco – A Cara da Bossa Nova by Marcello Montore (Grifo, 2009).
Brazilliance 
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