About

Rafe Johnson

Rafe Johnson in a black t-shirt against a warm studio backdrop
Currently
Technical Artist & Designer
at Tolan, San Francisco

I'm a technical artist and designer from Scotland. I moved to San Francisco to work on Tolan, where I design characters and figure out how they look, move and respond to people.

My work at Tolan covers character design, shaders, effects and animation systems. Before that, I built Wisp and its world for Apple Vision Pro, and worked on the VR experience of Virgin Galactic's spaceship cabin.

Rafe Johnson hiking among misty mountains in Scotland
Scotland — where I grew up

Outside work

Outside of work, I'm usually up a mountain, gaming, painting, or behind a camera.

See my photography
  1. 2019

    University of Dundee

    Master's — Product Design

    Scotland

  2. 2020

    Freelance

    3D Artist

    Scotland

  3. 2021–22

    Seymour Powell

    3D Designer

    Scotland

  4. 2022–24

    Liquid City

    Technical Artist

    London

  5. 2024–25

    Freelance

    Technical Artist

    Scotland

  6. 2025—

    Tolan

    Technical Artist & Designer

    San Francisco

Wired Tolan 2025
The Verge WOL AI 2023
Adobe Virgin Galactic design 2021
TechCrunch Virgin Galactic design 2021
Business Insider Virgin Galactic design 2021
Transform Magazine The future of AR 2021