Category: Interviews

For Oregon-based Gerard Killeen, the interaction of the user and his lenses is paramount. The Lens Creator, who also writes poetry among other endeavors, strives to bring joy and introspection to his work.

Though some of his lenses lean toward the macabre (beware, Arachnophobs), many are intriguing, funny, and totally imaginative. I caught up with Killeen to learn more about his process.

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Julien Van Dorland is a digital creator and entrepreneur who specializes in social augmented reality. He is an official lens creator at Snapchat, which allows him to work with some of the world’s biggest and most influential brands. Outside of his work with Snapchat, Julien has created multiple business ventures in the digital and fashion marketplace, including Arvable.

Jonah Cohn is an Augmented Reality (AR) artist specializing in creations for Snapchat and Instagram. Since 2018, Jonah has been enhancing the analog world around us through unique and attention-grabbing AR experiences. Obsessed with digital art since childhood, Jonah spent years perfecting his craft before offering his services professionally.

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Frank and Xuan of Paper Triangles really enjoy and are enthusiastic about the work they do—that was one of my main takeaways from my recent conversation with them.

Their Lenses reflect that spirit—they’re often vibrant and atmospheric, with a generally light color palette that sometimes verges on something resembling neon.

I also appreciate how they use old ceramic statue heads to display their Lenses on their Creator profile—adds a sense of elegance and grandiosity that complement their aesthetic nicely.

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ChAR Digital was founded Benjamin Paruzynski, an official Snapchat Lens Creator and Creative Partner. Working with brands to shape their digital marketing, Paruzynski and his team create lenses, filters, and effects.

Though he’s kept pretty busy between projects, I managed to catch up with the CEO to learn more about his digital journey.

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Selfies are an art form. If you’re going to put your face out there, it’s got to look good. I’ve seen plenty of apps claim to offer the best filters, stickers, and retouching options, but they most of them just fall flat. The Portrait app by Img.ly is one of the few that offers something truly unique.

They use machine learning to automatically extract our face from the background in order to create awesome, poster-like styles that look different than anything else out there.

Continue reading “Community Spotlight — Portrait by Img.ly”

Emilio Vegas, known online as Emiliusvgs, is reshaping AR. The Peruvian creator specializes in AR effects and concepts and has been steadily growing his following on Instagram and YouTube.

Testing products, tweaking Snapchat lenses, and vlogging, Vegas keeps busy with his so-called “Metaverse” project. You can visit his YouTube for more tutorials and product reviews, but first, read on to learn more about how Vegas got his start.

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Char Stiles is a regular at Algorave events across the East Coast of the United States. Based in Brooklyn, NY, the programmer and artist keeps busy with livecoding events, teaching workshops, and collaborating with Snapchat and artists of all kinds.

Interested in learning the math behind the code as well as exploring the philosophy of machine learning, Stiles is making their own path. I reached out to the creator after Lens Fest 2020 to learn more.

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Katrina Iosia used to own a cake decorating business. Now, she creates even more tantalizing creations on Snapchat. The New Zealand born Niuean lens creator’s work, often inspired by the ocean, spans physical sculptures and mixed reality, with exhibitions in galleries and on the street.

Fascinated by her immensely creative work, I reached out to learn more about the artist.

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I’m not going to lie, I spent way too much time playing with the various lenses Atit Kharel has shared with the world. He made it possible to go from my kitchen in Massachusetts to the Sydney Harbour Bridge in one step — how cool is that?!

From RC cars to learning a new language, I was struck by the variety of lenses Atit has made. I asked him a few questions to learn more about his process.

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