Biography of Dennis Loren

Dennis Loren is a well known accomplished graphic designer specializing in music related marketing materials and publication design. He has created album covers, posters, and print ads for Jimi Hendrix, Muddy Waters, Paul McCartney, The Velvet Underground, Rick James and many others.

Dennis was born in Detroit in 1946. After graduating from high school in 1964 he worked full time while attending art classes until he was drafted in 1965. In the spring of 1967 he was briefly stationed at the Presidio in San Francisco. He was discharged there and decided to stay since it was really happening there. that time. Excited by the music scene he decided to form a band with guitarist Joe Toschi called "Mercury Vapor". His musical high point was jamming with BB King and Charlie Musselwhite at the Fillmore West in February of 1970.

He returned to Detroit in 1971 where he continued his art and music. He recorded a album with Ted Lucas in 1976. He also worked with Stanley Mouse on a Ted Lucas solo album cover design. Also in 1976 he began working at the Detroit Sun with Gary Grimshaw and John Sinclair. In 1978 Dennis became the Art Director for Goldmine Magazine. During this time he also began to work for indie labels as a freelance designer. Throughout the 70's and 80's he did hundreds of flyers, posters, record covers for Detroit area bands. In 1986 he again worked with Gary at Creem magazine. When Cambray Publishing, which owned Creem, decided to relocate to Los Angeles Dennis became the Art Director. That lasted until Creem was sold in 1991. Dennis started freelancing fulltime with labels like Rhino, Bomp, Ichiban, Del-Fi, and Curb among others. He has also done a couple of posters for the House Of Blues in LA. The Whisky-A-Go-Go has asked him to design a commemorative series of posters which will be available soon. These will feature all the major artists that played the historic venue! He is currently working on the packaging for a collection of Frank Zappa's early recordings for Del-Fi records.