Hello Kitty at 30 Why We Still Love Her So "Although Kitty may seem to be a single and consistent image, she has changed with the times," says Yuko Yamaguchi, who became the third chief designer of the Hello Kitty franchise some 20 years ago. "Besides," she continues, "sticking stubbornly to a static image would bore me, and what's more, it would bore the consumers. I constantly try to give Kitty a fresh angle." For instance, Yamaguchi reflects, "the first Kitty I ever designed was at the keyboard of a grand piano, very gingerly playing a single note. That was because all the middle-class Japanese girls at that time played the piano, and a grand piano was something they all longed for."