Ken Sugimori

Ken Sugimori
is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is best known as the primary character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew and finalized all of the original 151 Pokémon. He has also worked on the various Pokémon films, trading cards, and other games like the Super Smash Bros. series.
Career
From early 1981 until 1986, Sugimori illustrated a gaming fanzine called Game Freak, which had been started by Satoshi Tajiri. Sugimori discovered the magazine in a dōjinshi shop, and decided to get involved. Eventually, the two decided to pitch an arcade game design idea to Namco; they reworked Game Freak into a development company and produced Mendel Palace. Sugimori is best known as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise and designed a large majority of the first 151 Pokémon with Atsuko Nishida, Motofumi Fujiwara, Shigeki Morimoto, Rena Yoshikawa, and Satoshi Ota. He has worked on the various Pokémon movies, trading cards, and other games.
For Pokémon Black and White, Sugimori directed a team of 17 people in designing new characters for the games, though he always drew the final designs. He drew much of his inspiration from observing animals in aquariums and zoos. Sugimori has also written and illustrated original manga, including one which was distributed with pre-orders of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. When he begins a new character, his process normally involves making a rough sketch, then tracing it onto film paper while polishing it and making the illustration more professional looking. After that, he draws the character many times, changing its proportions until he is satisfied. When designing a new Pokémon, Sugimori stated that "I do feel that I always want to show new Pokémon that people have never seen before. To do that, I think of ways that I can surprise the players."
Works
Video games
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year!!Game title!!Role
|-
|1989||Mendel Palace||Character designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |1991||Smart Ball||Game designer, character designer
|-
|Yoshi||Graphic designer
|-
|1992||Magical Tarurūto-kun||Director, game designer, graphic designer
|-
|1993||Mario & Wario||Character designer
|-
|1994||Pulseman||Director, game designer, graphic designer
|-
|rowspan="2" |1996||Pokémon Red, Green and Blue||Character designer, pokemon designer
|-
|Bazaar de Gosāru no Game de Gosāru||rowspan="2" |Graphic designer
|-
|1997||Bushi Seiryūden: Futari no Yūsha
|-
|1998||Pokémon Yellow||Character designer, pokemon designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |1999||Click Medic||Graphics support
|-
|Pokémon Gold and Silver||rowspan="2" |Graphics director, pokemon designer
|-
|2000||Pokémon Crystal
|-
|2002||Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire|| rowspan="3" |Art director, pokemon designer, graphic designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |2004 ||Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
|-
|Pokémon Emerald
|-
|2005||Drill Dozer|| Director, game designer
|-
|2006||Pokémon Diamond and Pearl|| rowspan="2" |Art director, pokemon designer, graphic designer
|-
|2008||Pokémon Platinum
|-
|2009||Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver|| Pokemon designer, graphic supervisor
|-
|2010||Pokémon Black and White|| 2D art director, pokemon designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |2012
|HarmoKnight
|Advisor
|-
||Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 || Pokemon designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |2013||Pocket Card Jockey
|Advisor
|-
|Pokémon X and Y ||rowspan="2" |Character art director, pokemon design director
|-
|2014||Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire
|-
|2015||Tembo the Badass Elephant || Advisor
|-
|2016||Pokémon Sun and Moon || Pokemon designer, lead trainer graphic designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |2017||Giga Wrecker || Advisor
|-
|Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon || Pokemon designer, design art
|-
|rowspan="2" |2018||Pokémon Quest || Supervisor
|-
|Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! || Creative supervisor
|-
| rowspan="3" |2019||Little Town Hero|| rowspan="2" |Supervisor
|-
|Pokémon Sword and Shield
|-
|Sakura Wars ||Peanut character designer
|-
| rowspan="2" |2022||Pokémon Legends: Arceus || rowspan="2" |Supervisor
|-
|Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
|}
Card games
Pokémon Trading Card Game: main card artist
Anime
Pokémon (anime): character design
Pokémon: The First Movie: original character design
Pokémon: The Movie 2000: original character design
Pokémon 3: The Movie: conceptual character artist
Pokémon 4Ever: conceptual character artist
Pokémon Heroes: conceptual character artist
Manga
Quinty (Mendel Palace)
Jerry Boy (Smart Ball)
Valkyrie no Bōken Gaiden: Futari no Megami (The Adventure of Valkyrie Gaiden: Two Goddess)
Screw Breaker Gōshin Dorirurero (Drill Dozer)
Pokémon Fushigi no Danjon Toki no Tankentai Yami no Tankentai (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness)
Shin Maido Osawagaseshimasu''
References
External links
Sugimori's blog
Sugimori's Twitter account (mostly Japanese)
Pokémon
Nintendo people
People from Fukuoka
1966 births
Living people
Japanese art directors
Manga artists
Japanese illustrators