Babak "Bob" Rafei ( fa, بابک رافعی) is an Iranian

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

art director, character animator and concept artist. He is the CEO of Big Red Button Entertainment, a video game development studio he co-founded with Jeff Lander 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 Awards and Independent Games Festival, and a variety of tuto ...

and Game Developers Choice Awards, as well as panel leader of

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

'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 and profile ''Animation Maga ...

'' 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. Specifically, AWN co ...

''. A graduate of

Parson's School of Design Parsons School of Design, known colloquially as Parsons, is a private art and design college located in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City. Founded in 1896 after a group of progressive artists broke away from established Manhatt ...

, 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. Gav ...

, 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 an action-adventure 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 outsourc ...

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

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

, most notably Blues Traveler's ''

Travelers and Thieves ''Travelers and Thieves'' is Blues Traveler's second album, released on A&M Records in 1991. The album was released in two different versions: an album-only version, and an extremely limited two-CD pressing. The bonus disc was called ''On Tour F ...

''.

Games

;As art director * ''

'' (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 video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It is the fourth installment in the ''Crash Bandicoot'' ...

'' (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 it is both a sequel and a prequel to ...

'' (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'', the third game in the series and serves as the conclusion of the ...

'' (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