Yuko Shimizu (清水 侑子, Shimizu Yūko, born 1 November 1946) is the Japanese designer who created Hello Kitty.
She was born in Japan. After graduating from Musashino Art University, she joined Sanrio. She designed the first original Sanrio character, Coro Chan, a bear which was introduced in 1973. In 1974 she made the original design for Hello Kitty, whose fictional birthdate is November 1, same as Shimizu's. Hello Kitty is Sanrio's most successful and best known character. Shimizu based her name on Alice's black 'Kitty' from Through the Looking-Glass. Hello Kitty was designed to be a kawaii (cute) symbol to be used on merchandise. In 1975, the design made her debut in Japan with her image on a coin purse. Sanrio has said Hello Kitty has no mouth because she "speaks from the heart" and that she is "Sanrio's ambassador to the world who isn't bound to one certain language." Shimizu left Sanrio in 1976 to get married and has been working as a freelance designer ever since. She did not make a lot of money from Hello Kitty.
The other characters she has created include Angel Cat Sugar and Rebecca Bonbon. She has also published some picture books.
Source : Wikipedia
