Yuko Shimizu is the first designer of Hello Kitty, and an award winning Japanese illustrator. She is also the creator of Hello Kitty. She is born on November 1, 1946 and was born in Chiba prefecture. After she graduated from Musashino Art University, she released Hello Kitty at Sanrio in 1974. She retired from Sanrio in 1976, After retiring from Sanrio, she started to work as a freelance designer and is currently doing so. She has also created Angel Cat Sugar and Rebecca Bonbon and she has also published some picture books.