What is an Instagram filter?
Augmented reality (AR) filters are a feature inside Instagram that was launched in 2017. Users can pull up the filters inside stories where the filter alters the image your camera displays.
Creating filters for UNC-Chapel Hill
While filters have been around for a few years now, Instagram has recently made it easier for anyone to create them through the free platform Spark AR.
I knew filters would be a great way to connect and engage with UNC’s younger audience, especially during the time when students had to be off campus due to COVID-19.
After watching numerous Youtube tutorials, I took on the challenge of creating the first ever filters for UNC’s Instagram.
Here’s what I made:
Which Carolina Icon Are You?
In the fall of 2019 this particular trend took off. A box would appear on the user's forehead and randomize until it landed on an option. People and brands jumped on the bandwagon and we began to see everything from "What Disney Character Are You?" to "What Meme Are You?"
I took my own spin on the trend to create, "What Carolina Icon Are You?"
Hark the Sound and UNC20 Grad Photos
Carolina students were forced to leave campus when the pandemic struck in the spring of 2020. This meant that the graduating class would miss out on many springtime traditions. In an effort to connect students when they had to be physically distant from campus, I turned to Instagram AR Filters.
In the first filter, confetti flies as Hark the Sound plays. In the second filter students were encouraged to wear their cap and gowns and then tap through various backgrounds to take virtual graduation pictures on UNC’s campus.
First Sips
It's a Carolina tradition to sip from the Old Well on the first day of classes (FDOC). For health and safety reasons during the pandemic, the Old Well was closed in the fall of 2020. So I once again turned to Instagram filters to recreate the experience virtually.
In this filter, I animated the background so the water appeared to be flowing. Students could "take their first sips" and wishfully hope for that 4.0 GPA.
Filters can only be viewed on a mobile device. Click the smiley face underneath the highlight bubbles.