During summer break it’s not always easy to keep up with graphics skills. With no class projects to work on, you have to take the initiative to create something yourself. Last summer, I wanted to challenge myself creatively, while also making something that a lot of people could enjoy. After a lot of research, I found out that you could make and submit your own Snapchat Geofilters, which is what I decided to do for my town.

On Snapchat’s website they have a list of specs that each submission must have, as well as templates for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. The next step was to figure out the design for the filter. I wanted it to be simple, but still fun, and use the colors associated with my town. Since the High Schools colors were orange and black, it only made sense to use those in the design.

There was a lot of trial and error when it came to fonts, sizes, placement, and even the words themselves. Many other towns’ Geofilters didn’t necessarily use the full town name, but a common nickname for it. At first I used the full name “Franklin Square,” but it didn’t flow right with the design, so I went with “The Square,” which the town is often referred to as.

After finishing the design and making sure it followed all of the required guidelines, it came time to submit it. When submitting it, you have to give a brief description of why you made the filter, and then outline the location that filter should be available to. Then comes the wait. Snapchat needs to approve the filter before they can activate it, and with the amount of submissions they get, this process doesn’t happen immediately. But within a few days, I heard back, and my filter was activated!

This was the final product:

It was, and still is, really gratifying to see something I made being used by so many people. Something really small made a lot of people happy, and it also showed the love and appreciation we all have for our small town.

I guess now the question is what can I make this summer that tops that?