Ken Sugimori was the principal character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise.
Sugimori co-founded Game Freak with Satoshi Tajiri and became closely associated with the franchise’s visual identity. He drew and finalized most of the original 151 Pokémon, working alongside other artists including Atsuko Nishida, Motofumi Fujiwara, Shigeki Morimoto, and Satoshi Ota.
His role is often simplified to “the person who designed all Pokémon,” but that is not fully accurate. Pokémon design has always involved multiple artists, and Sugimori’s responsibilities included character design, art direction, illustrations, and final visual supervision. His watercolor-like official artwork helped establish how the creatures appeared in game materials, cards, manuals, and promotional media.
Sugimori had worked with Tajiri before Pokémon, after joining the Game Freak fanzine. The magazine later became the video game company Game Freak in 1989. Tajiri is credited as Pokémon’s creator, while Sugimori is best identified as its leading original visual designer.