Ken Sugimori

Ken Sugimori (born January 27, 1966 in Tokyo, Japan) is a graphic artist from Japan who is the art director of the Pokémon games. Sugimori designed the first 251 Pokémon virtually by himself, and since Ruby/Sapphire he has been part of a character design team. His other work for the series includes the design for the human characters such as gym leaders, as well as the 1st and 2nd-generation Pokémon trading cards. Sugimori's art pieces of each Pokémon are commonly used for generic images of each character on forums and websites.

Sugimori is a close friend of Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon. He has also helped on the art direction for the Pokémon of the Smash Bros. Series.