In Maker Hikōshiki Hatsune Mix she is usually portrayed as a middle-aged woman, however KEI mentioned in a magazine interview that what he depicts in the comic is not official. Due to this, there are many different designs, even for official artwork. MEIKO's VOCALOID boxart hid the front of her red sleeveless jacket, making it difficult to tell what the design consists of. Consequently Crypton took a different direction with their updates in comparison to the Appends of Hatsune Miku, Kagamine Rin & Len, and Megurine Luka. Wat described how different the intention of the CV series was to the concept of KAITO and MEIKO during the development of KAITO V3.
This character had nothing to do with the singer's image, but her anime-based appearance appealed to a mainstream audience and the software sold well. Crypton placed this product on the market with box art that depicted a female character. The illustration was done by Shogo Washizu, often called わっしー(Wasshi), a former member of Crypton. The name originates from the eponymous derivative character, depicted as herself in her younger days. She is often misnamed Sakine Meiko by fans. "Megumi" (めぐみ) was also a name considered during her development. MEIKO's codename was "HANAKO" it likely came from "Yamada Hanako ( 山 ( やま ) 田 ( だ ) 花 ( はな ) 子 ( こ ))", a placeholder name for female characters, and the Japanese equivalent to "Jane Smith". "MEIKO" comes directly from her voice provider's name, "Haigou Meiko."