Babak "Bob" Rafei () is an Iranian

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

art director, character animator and concept artist. He is the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Big Red Button Entertainment, a video game development studio he co-founded with

Jeff Lander Jeff Lander is an American video game programmer. He creates real-time 3D graphics at Darwin 3D, a game technology specialist company. He has written several articles on 3D graphics for Gamasutra and Game Developers Conference. In 2002, he receiv ...

in 2009. Rafei is also an advisory board member for

Game Developers Conference The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...

and

Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are awards annually presented at the Game Developers Conference for outstanding video game developer, game developers and video game, games. Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by ...

, as well as panel leader of

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

's achievement awards category on Art Direction and contributing writer of ''

Animation Magazine ''Animation Magazine'' is an American print magazine and website covering the animation industry and education, as well as visual effects. The print magazine is published 10 times a year in the United States. History ''Animation Magazine'' was f ...

'' and ''

Animation World Network Animation World Network (often just "AWN") is an online publishing group that specializes in resources for animators, with an extensive website offering news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. Content Specifically ...

''. A graduate of Parson's School of Design, Rafei was an employee of

Naughty Dog Naughty Dog, LLC (formerly JAM Software, Inc.) is an American first-party video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1984, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001. G ...

, joining them in early 1995 to work on ''

Crash Bandicoot ''Crash Bandicoot'' is a video game franchise originally developed by Naughty Dog as an exclusive for Sony's PlayStation console. It has seen numerous installments created by various developers and published on multiple platforms. The series c ...

''. Other notable works include ''

Jak and Daxter ''Jak and Daxter'' is a platform video game franchise created by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was originally developed by Naughty Dog with a number of installments being outsourced to Re ...

'', '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'', and '' Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric''. Rafei previously worked on album

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

s for

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

, most notably

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...

's '' Travelers and Thieves''.

Games

;As

art director Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supe ...

* ''

'' (1996) * '' Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back'' (1997) * '' Crash Bandicoot: Warped'' (1998) * ''

Crash Team Racing ''Crash Team Racing'' (stylized as ''CTR: Crash Team Racing'') is a 1999 kart racing game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fourth installment in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' series ...

'' (1999) * '' Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy'' (2001) * ''

Jak II ''Jak II'' is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2 in 2003. It is the second game of the ''Jak and Daxter'' series and a sequel to '' Jak and Daxter: The Prec ...

'' (2003) * ''

Jak 3 ''Jak 3'' is a 2004 action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game is the sequel to '' Jak II'' and serves as the conclusion of the trilogy. The story of the prev ...

'' (2004) * '' Jak X: Combat Racing'' (2005) * '' Uncharted: Drake's Fortune'' (2007) ;As game director * '' Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric'' (2014)

References

External links

Official Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafei, Bob 1969 births Parsons School of Design alumni Iranian art directors Iranian emigrants to the United States Iranian people in the video game industry Video game artists Living people American illustrators American animators Journalists from New York City Iranian illustrators Iranian animators Iranian journalists Naughty Dog people