John Van Hamersveld

Roots run deep on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, anchoring fascinating lives. One of the most splendid things about PV is the quiet neighborhoods where privacy is highly valued and respected. The Peninsula offers an unparalleled idyllic enclave with a level of seclusion, creating an atmosphere of mystery and exclusivity where residents enjoy such privacy that they may not even be aware of their neighbors.

For example, John Van Hamersveld. If you don’t know his name, you know his work. Perhaps best known for designing the iconic The Endless Summer surf poster from the 1960s, Van Hamersveld grew up in Lunada Bay and in the Pacific Ocean where he has surfed his entire life.

Van Hamersveld is well known for his enormous catalog of Los Angeles-inspired art. His images, including album covers for The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Jefferson Airplane, the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, and more than 300 others, have had a huge effect on popular culture beginning in the 60s. The impact and breadth of his innovative career span decades. He is described by many as an enigma, a man of a “different mind.” He is known for his ability to emerge himself in so many different subcultures and capture their essence in a single piece of art. His talent is like no other. 

He also kick-started the LA music scene with the Pinnacle Concert Series, a series of concerts in the 60s that were inspired by a trip to San Francisco where he realized that LA only had small clubs and the largest event place was the Hollywood Bowl. John designed the famous poster and image of guitarist Jimi Hendrix for the first Pinnacle concert, recognized today all over the world.  Along with designing the posters for the events, many times he also photographed the bands.  

He smiles as he recalls his days in the Hollywood rock scene keeping company with everyone from Eric Clapton to Mick Jagger. 

Some of the iconic designs he produced include logos and complete graphic identities for such brands as Fat Burger, Contempo Casuals, Gotcha, and JIMMY’Z. He also did product design for Van’s, Billabong, Disney, Electric Eyewear, and Obey Giant. 

His public murals have been installed from Norfolk, VA to San Pedro, CA. John’s largest mural is 510 feet in El Segundo. 

“I was six months old when we moved to Palos Verdes. My grandfather worked in engineering and patents during the Industrial Revolution. He had a lot of connections through banking and had heard about Palos Verdes through Frank Vanderlip.” 

His grandfather bought land in Luanda Bay, eventually building the house on Chelsea Road where Van Hamersveld grew up.

“I’m like 10 years old, and there are big huge open fields everywhere. I had so much freedom and a path to my buddy Phil Becker’s house. He was a year older but we both went to Malaga Cove School.”  Becker went on to become one of the most iconic surfboard shapers in the world and his brand of Becker surfboards are among the most popular surfboards today. They were also friends with Carl Eckstrom, best known as the designer of the asymmetrical skateboard.

“We were like 11 and 12, skating in the grammar school hallways. With those steel skates, we could slide around for hours; it was great. Then, that skating turned into surfing. We had a big 10-foot board made of balsa wood. So, my generation is the generation for the balsa board. Very manageable you know, 40 pounds and 10 or so feet,” he jokes.

He went to El Segundo High School which recruited Palos Verdes students at the time. “High school was just a place that I barely went to. I was dyslexic but the nice dean gave me two art classes. So, I had two art classes in high school, that was all.” 

After graduating from high school, he moved to Aspen to work and ski for a year. John laughs as he tells us that his father was a practical parent and decided that his son would go to design school. “He put me in this situation where I had to go to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and learn about graphic design and learn how to draw, you know, academically!”

When Van Hamersveld moved back to Palos Verdes, his father got him a job at Northrop Aviation designing publications. He found the work tedious and the hours long and decided he was going to create his own magazine. So, he set up a studio in his apartment on the Riviera and got to it. 

In the 60s, he was surfing Torrance Beach with his close friend Rick Griffin. “I would just go down to Torrance Beach and run recruitment for this magazine I was making. I was going to call it Surfing Illustrated.” After only a few issues, he met John Severson who had started Surfer Magazine. “The first time I met the guy we sat down and he said, I want to hire you just to do Surfer Magazine. You need to move to Dana Point; it’s where the great surf is.” 

So, Van Hamersveld got a house by the sea and a dream job. “I worked for him, cranking out magazines, a bi-monthly magazine that was at the center of surfing. The publication had a circulation of 65,000. Surfers of my generation read it around the world.”

Later, he moved to the LA Arts District and got a meeting with Capitol Records to show them some drawings. “ I walk in and he looks at me and says, “ I’m going to hire you and you can’t turn me down. I’m thinking this guy signed the Beatles to the label and he decided that I was going to be his designer, so I was. I was set up in an office next to the Vice President and I would be the art director for Capitol Records. So, I went from Surfer Magazine to Capitol Records in about two or three years.”

His influence in developing and growing California surf culture cannot be overstated. The creative, vivacious 81-year-old art school-trained modernist designed The Endless Summer poster while he was still in school. He continues to create art today from his hillside home in Rancho Palos Verdes and is not slowing down any time soon.

“I’ve had an incredible career, just drawing! It’s changed over time. I had to become another person, adopt another dynamic and so I worked on being an artist and luckily at this age, I still have skill in my brain, so I keep going.” He has continued to consistently create, never feared technology, and adapted and grown with the times. The result of this has shown through the vast amount of work and influence he has had in the art world and beyond, as he has always managed to stay 10 years ahead of the curve. 

In 2020, filmmaker and friend, Dave Tourje produced a short documentary, “John Van Hamersveld Crazy World Ain’t It.” The film was made as a tribute to John, honoring the tremendous influence, he has had in the surf, skate, and rock world. 

John’s wife Alida runs the business side of things so John can continue to create. “John is constantly working, constantly creating, that is who he is. We have some very exciting things in the works,” she says. “It always cracks me up when people ask John ‘Are you going to retire?’ What does that mean? Is he going to just stop drawing one day? You know, creative people don’t just stop. John and I are so lucky that we get to do what we do. It’s unbelievable.”

John Hamersveld has no intention or reason to retire anytime soon. The photographer, designer, and artist continue to create, inspire, and engage in the community as well as the world.