Technical Artist  ·  Creative Technologist  ·  Infrastructure Engineer

Joel
Clapp

I work at the intersection of systems and craft — managing infrastructure at scale by day, building games and making art the rest of the time. I'm drawn to the places where engineering and creativity reinforce each other, and I'm always looking for more of them.

Infrastructure Engineer Art Director Game Developer Motion Designer Illustrator
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Curious by nature,
useful by design.

I studied Digital Technology & Culture at WSU Vancouver with a certificate in Game Development & Design — a deliberately broad foundation. I've since been a videographer, a motion designer, a full-stack developer, and now an infrastructure engineer supporting one of the largest financial institutions on the planet. Every step felt intentional at the time, and it still does in hindsight.

What I've found is that I do my best work at the seams — between creative and technical teams, between art pipelines and automation systems, between the person who knows what needs to happen and the person who can make it happen. I've been called "the glue" on more than one project, and that description fits. I take pride in being someone a team can rely on.

I've shipped game assets in Unreal, Unity, and Godot. I've animated 50+ videos for a digital art museum and led interviews with international artists. I've co-led Ansible migrations spanning ~300 automation scripts. I've art-directed 30+ artists on a commercial game release. I'm drawn to roles where all of that can show up at once — technical artist, pipeline engineer, creative technologist — and I'm genuinely excited about what those roles are becoming.

30K+
Servers managed
50+
Videos produced
5+
Game engines
5yr
Professional experience

Tools & Skills

3D Art
BlenderMayaSubstance Painter
2D & Motion
After EffectsPremiere ProIllustratorPhotoshopProcreateAnimateGIMP
Game Engines
GodotUnityUnrealPhaser 3Twine
Code
PythonGDScriptC#JavaScriptJavaPowerShellBashHTML5 / CSS3
Infra & DevOps
AnsibleAzureHyper-VVMwareSplunkJenkinsGitSCCMServiceNow
Collaboration & Leadership
Art DirectionTeam LeadershipTechnical WritingCross-functional CommsMentorship

Where I've been.

2025 – Present
JPMorgan Chase
Vancouver, WA
Infrastructure Engineer — Windows OS
  • OS operations across 30,000+ Windows servers; code reviewer and approver for the team's Ansible/Git automation repository.
  • Authored PowerShell tooling for CCM agent cache cleanup, significantly reducing a recurring monthly patching bottleneck.
  • Built internal tools querying proprietary APIs to surface real-time server health data — streamlining daily triage workflows for the team.
  • Co-led an Ansible version migration impacting ~300 automation scripts and microservices, wrapped up within a single financial quarter.
  • Maintain the team's Confluence knowledge base, keeping operational documentation accurate and actually useful.
2023 – 2025
Dev10 / Genesis10
Full-Stack Software Engineer
Dev10 · Genesis10
  • Completed an intensive full-stack engineering training program; placed as a software engineer consultant.
  • Built web applications using Java / Spring Boot on the back end, JavaScript and Bootstrap on the front end, and MySQL for data persistence.
  • Recognized by instructors as one of the strongest performers in the cohort.
2021 – 2023
WSU Vancouver &
GTMA Agency
Videographer & Motion Designer
The NEXT / Electronic Literature Lab · the-next.org
A virtual museum and preservation space for born-digital art and literature, curated by WSU Vancouver in partnership with the Electronic Literature Organization.
  • Storyboarded, animated, and captioned 50+ promotional videos for the museum; led recorded interviews with international artists and organizations.
  • Developed team workflow, templates, and asset pipelines in After Effects and Premiere Pro alongside team leadership.
  • Also produced video and animation content for real-estate and marketing clients at GTMA Agency using After Effects, Blender, Photoshop, and Illustrator.

Projects & Games

Game · Art Direction
Ramen Rush
Art Supervisor — CMDC Studios

Directed 30+ 2D/3D artists across all assets for a fast-paced puzzle game set in a fantasy night market. Led the concept art team through visual direction, reviewed every asset, and contributed extensively as an artist throughout production.

Game · Solo Dev
Necrobrawlicon
Solo Developer — Personal Project

A rogue-like deck-builder set in the afterlife, built entirely solo in Godot. All 2D card art, NPC illustrations, UI, custom shaders, particle systems, and animation — one of those projects where you learn something new every session.

Game · 3D Lead
Dead Air
3D Lead — CMDC Studios

Created in-game 3D assets for Unreal Engine using Blender, Maya, and Substance Painter. Also edited and composited the game's official trailer — a nice overlap of the 3D and motion sides of my background.

Game · Co-Lead
Everything Must Go
Co-Lead Programmer & Artist — CMDC Studios

Co-led programming and art on a puzzle / shop simulation with visual novel dialogue in Godot. One of the more fun hats-on-at-once projects — mechanical design, illustrated characters, and environments all at once.

Concept Art · Illustration
Dark Fantasy Work
Concept Artist & Illustrator — Independent (2021–2022)

Concept art and illustration work across several dark fantasy projects spanning tabletop and video game formats — character design, environment concepts, creature work, and visual world-building.

Infra · Automation
Ansible Tooling
Infrastructure Engineer — JPMorgan Chase

Co-led a version migration across ~300 Ansible automation scripts. Authored PowerShell utilities for high-frequency patching blockers and built API tooling to surface server health data in real time for daily triage.

Flagship · In Development
Technical Art Project
Solo — Work in Progress

A flagship technical art project currently in development — exploring procedural systems, custom tooling, and the overlap between engineering and visual craft. More details soon.

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Briarghast Creative

Illustration, motion design, 3D art, and game assets made under the Briarghast handle — the creative side that runs alongside everything else.

Let's work together.

I'm open to technical artist roles, game tools engineering, creative technology, and infrastructure positions at studios and media companies. If you're building something where art and engineering meet — or if you're just curious about the background — I'd genuinely love to hear from you.

clappjoelm@gmail.com ↑ Back to top