2021
Snap - Lens Studio AR Case Study
The Client
Lens Studio
The Client's Website
lensstudio.snapchat.com
What They Wanted
Lens Studio had released new features for 2021 and was looking for designers to explore and show their potential. Included with the brief, was a collection of prompts to spark creativity.
The lens needed to be fully functional and shareable with its own Snapcode. Also requested a promotional video showcasing how the lens worked and the Snapcode overlaying the video.
The Deliverables
-
Functional Lens Posted online
-
SnapChat Icon
-
Pitch Video to promote the Lens and highlighting how the lens works
The Icons are a combination of the Ringling Motion Design Logo and T-shirt iconography. These simple designs are clear and concise as to what the filter is about. The change of color application helps to differentiate the two filters.
The Process
The Concept
We chose the direction of the Motion Mentor Filter.
Taking advantage of the new shirt segmentation and create a filter that celebrated the Motion Mentors Program. Designing it in a way that allowed the filter to be customizable to the individual user.
The Motion Mentor Program is a program in which upper-classmen are assigned two Freshmen students to be a friendly face at school, a role-model, and a guide. Mentors and Mentees will share work with each other for feedback. It is also a great way to start networking while at school for the career ahead.
First Pass
What was asked
-
Make the filter individualized either by adding the face of the mentor or the Mentor's name.
-
Design an animation to play on the shirt
-
"I love my Mentor"
What I did
-
I focused on making sure I could get a working filter with the new shirt segmentation
-
Created Upper body segmentation AR which can be customized with a photo picker that allows user to select photo from their camera roll of their mentor.
-
Experimented with having multiple people at once. This caused the mask to only recognize one person only for most of the effect.
-
Research with adding a feature like "Face Swap" so the mentor and mentee could use the filter together and each face for be on the other's shirt. This was no longer supported on Lens Studio.
-
Designed a simple animation showing easing for the shirt background
-
Tested the filters functionality on SnapChat
Second Pass
What was asked
-
Work on the aesthetics of the filter
-
Create a square image
-
Animate text, if possible in 3D
-
Add the Motion Design logo
What I did
-
Switched the face plate to a square format
-
Framed the central focus higher on the chest
-
Experimented with animated MD Logo bouncing. I felt there was too much visual conflict, so also presented the MD logo stationary on the shirt
-
Changed the typeface to try to match the MD logo
-
Added 3D "Mentor"
Challenges
-
The animation on the shirt was over the photo as using a blend mode and I was unable to find a way to prevent this.
Final Pass
What was asked
-
There needs to be some animation in the filter
-
Make it feel celebratory - "Thank you" - This was later removed
-
Change to "Motion Mentor" and move the "I love my" to above the image
-
Add Instructions on how to use the filter
-
Create a second filter for mentees
What I did
-
Got the 3D "Motion Mentor" to spin as per an earlier client suggestion
-
Experimented with adding a different background, 3D elements or particles to give the filter a more festive feel
-
Added the MD logo and move it to the top so it would not be affected by the masking of the shirt
-
Created a matching "Motion Mentee" filter.
Challenges
-
The new upper body segmentation would not allow a second segmentation for creating a fun a festive background.
-
It also prevents adding 3D elements into the filter that would not be masked off by the segmentation