Chris Maple is a commercial artist and designer best known as the creator of the Pokémon logo — one of the most recognized brand marks in entertainment history. Hired by Nintendo of America in 1998 after other agencies had come up short, Maple took on the project under an intense one-month deadline. He describes the process as a "guided tour," presenting multiple directions before trusting his instincts to land on the final design.

His portfolio also includes branding work for The Color Purple, where he designed the typography and oversaw photography on a four-day turnaround.

Maple grew up in Seattle and was entirely self-taught until the age of 28, supporting himself through construction and manual labor while developing his craft outside the classroom. That path shaped his belief that creativity built "on the street" — the ability to produce strong work on demand, under pressure — is a skill school alone can't teach.

Today, Maple is known not just for his design work but for his creative philosophy: prioritizing mastery of fundamental artistic principles over rigid technique, and championing patience and what he calls "passivity" — concentrated energy and trust in the process rather than force. He also brings a sharp business sense to his practice, understanding how to win high-stakes projects by offering clients a risk-mitigated path forward when they're under pressure to deliver.