{"id":47916,"date":"2017-11-10T08:24:13","date_gmt":"2017-11-10T16:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/?p=47916"},"modified":"2024-04-16T06:58:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:58:27","slug":"custom-snapchat-filter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creativemarket.com\/blog\/custom-snapchat-filter","title":{"rendered":"How to Design a Custom Snapchat Filter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Particularly appealing to those people born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s (AKA, millennials), Snapchat has been taking the world by storm since its launch only a few years ago. This is thanks in part to its revolutionary way of messaging and communicating: users send each other Snaps (pictures, videos, and messages) that only last for a very short time before they’re inaccessible. This fleeting nature of Snapchat is what’s allowed it to stand out in an otherwise crowded social media field. Other social networks like Instagram have quickly followed suit.\nBecause of its widespread use, the app currently has approximately 166 million users per day, Snapchat is also a popular focus of designers, both for hobbyist and financial reasons. If you’re searching for information on how to design a Snapchat<\/a> Geofilter, you’ve come to the right place. As a bonus, you’ll also learn how to turn that passion or hobby into something profitable.\nA potentially lucrative venture for designers is mastering how to design a Snapchat Geofilter, so here we go!\n

<\/span>What Are Snapchat Geofilters?<\/span><\/h2>

\nBefore you can break ground designing Geofilters, you have to know what they are. If you’re not yet a hardcore user of Snapchat, here are the basics.\nA Geofilter is an overlay, usually aesthetic and vibrant, that shows up in your Snapchat immediately after you take a Snap. According to Snapchat<\/a> itself:\n“Geofilters are a fun way to share where you are, or what you’re up to, by adding a fun overlay to your Snap. If you have location services and Filters enabled, Geofilters appear at thousands of places around the world.â€\nAdding a Snap to your picture is as easy as swiping on the preview screen of the Snap and then choosing which one you want to add to your image. Long story short, Geofilters are essentially an extra way for users to interact with this social-media platform on another level. Think of them as filters on steroids.\n

<\/figure>\n \nThe big difference between normal filters and Geofilters is that Geofilters are always dependent and specific to the location you find yourself in or the event you’re attending. Geofilters encourage users to share time and event-sensitive information with their fellow users with additional urgency.\nNow that you’re an expert on these kinds of filters, it’s time to do a deep dive into how you can design them.\n<\/p>

<\/span>The Basics of How to Design a Snapchat Geofilter<\/span><\/h2>

\nThere’s a flow to designing your Geofilter. Approach it from the standpoint of product design, with a clear beginning, middle, and end.\n<\/p>

<\/span>The Ideation Process<\/span><\/h2>

\nLike with all great products’ inception, think about the reason why you’re designing the Geofilter in the first place. Since Geofilters are goal-based, it helps to start out by finalizing how your filter will look and what details it will contain. Going back to the event example, one of the most obvious details to include in a Geofilter is the name of the event and where it’s being held. After all, you want users to let their friends know about your event in the time it takes to quickly send a Snap.\n

<\/figure>\n \nNow’s the time to also understand how to work Snapchat’s branding into your own identity. Even if you’re promoting an event that’s serious or is for a brand that’s not known for being quirky, realize that you’re on a platform that’s used by Millennials, which means that irreverence and playfulness are part of its design language. Therefore, designing Geofilters that incorporate a good amount of these characteristics is a win.\n<\/p>

<\/span>The Design Process<\/span><\/h2>

\nWhen thinking about how to design a Snapchat Geofilter, understand that many Snaps involve headshots and selfies of people—so a successful design will make considerations for somehow incorporating faces. That’s simply the nature of the platform you’re working on as a designer. Good design is always geared to working in harmony with where<\/em> you’re designing for.\nUnfortunately, the Geofilter design process comes down to some trial and error because only the actual selfies and pictures of people on the platform benefit from its facial-recognition methods, which Geofilters aren’t equipped for. As a result, you’ll likely have to iterate several Geofilter designs and then individually test out each one to ensure that it perfectly aligns with a selfie that you intend to use. You want your Geofilter design to feature adequate spacing in between the various elements of its design, for example.\n\"\"\nOf course, the other option is simply to give your clients and audience something they may not be expecting and therefore go with a design that doesn’t incorporate faces. If you do this, these two approaches work best:\nUsing <\/strong>White or Negative Space<\/strong><\/a> – Frame your Geofilter in such a way to highlight the design elements inside of the frame. By including a border around the picture, for instance, you elevate the focus of your audience to the Snap and nothing else. If anything, this is a highly functional way to make sure important information in the Snap isn’t missed.\nEmphasis on Typography<\/a><\/strong> – It makes sense that, if your event is centered around a phrase or slogan (examples: The March Against Cancer, The Bakeoff for New School Uniforms, etc.), using text-heavy designs can draw more attention to your event. Of course, don’t just limit yourself to type designs. Feel free to also include smaller design touches like illustrations, effects, etc.\n

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<\/span>The Branding Process<\/span><\/h2>

\nSince you’re promoting an event, you’ll probably want to include your logo or another identifying mark. Fortunately, Snapchat’s rules for branding are well-defined.\nThese rules break down into two camps:\n<\/p>