Bob Matsumoto with his “Remembrance” poster.
Robert “Bob” Matsumoto was honored Sept. 27 by ArtCenter College of De-sign with an Alumni Award for Outstanding Service at the school’s 2025 Alumni Reunion.
A prolific creative director, Matsumoto’s work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art and the American Advertising Museum. ArtCenter recognized him for his groundbreaking advocacy and artwork around Japanese American incarceration memory and justice, including his striking poster, “Remembrance.”
“Remembrance” features red, white and blue barbed wire, along with the names of the ten concentration camps where Japanese Americans were incarcerated, and is included in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution.
“I was just four years old when I and my family were forcibly removed and incarcerated at the Manzanar concentration camp during World War II, a part of the mass internment of Japanese Americans based on Executive Order 9066,” Matsumoto shared.
“This early experience transformed our lives and fueled my lifelong commitment to preserving the history of Japanese American internment while using my creative talents to advocate for justice and healing in the community.”
Matsumoto’s 1981 mini-documentary “Voices Long Silent” depicts the Japanese American camp experience and was exhibited at the Smithsonian. He was profiled by ArtCenter in 2020.
During a previous speech to ArtCenter students, Matsumoto said “Remembrance” was his proudest work. “That poster means more to me than any work I’ve done in advertising,” he told the students, while comparing what he experienced to the separation and detainment of migrant children under President Trump’s administration. “Use your talent, change society. Speak up.”
The Clio- and Belding-winning advertising executive introduced the first art/copy class at ArtCenter and also taught conceptual thinking.
Bob Matsumoto with Karen Hoffman, president of ArtCenter College of Design.
Matsumoto’s early career began as an art assistant at NBC affiliate KCRA in Sacramento, where he caught the eye of owner Bob Kelly, who offered to sponsor his education at Art-Center and helped secure his first agency position. Matsumoto graduated from ArtCenter in 1965 with a BFA in advertising, marking the beginning of an illustrious career that not only left a lasting legacy in the world of advertising but also made a profound impact on society.
Upon graduation, Matsumoto was recruited by the legendary Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB) in New York, where he worked as an art director for 13 transformative years. During this period, he honed his craft at one of the most innovative agencies in advertising history. In 1969, he returned to Los Angeles to continue his journey at DDB’s L.A. office, where he remained a driving creative force for several more years before founding his own agency, Matsumoto Herzog.
Matsumoto was nominated for the Outstanding Service Alumni Award by fellow ArtCenter alumnus Julian Ryder.
“Bob’s humanitarian contributions extend beyond creative expression — they are acts of service to the broader community, ensuring that the stories of internment are remembered and honored in a way that educates future generations,” Ryder wrote in his nomination letter. “His work confirms the power of creativity in advocating for social justice, and his contributions have had a lasting impact on both the Japanese American community and the national consciousness.”
A resident of Burbank, Matsumoto and his wife, Linda, have three children and four grandchildren.
For more about the 2025 ArtCenter Reunion and the alumni honorees, visit: www.artcenter.edu/connect/events/2025-alumni-reunion.html.