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, Sanrio's most successful and best known character. She 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.