Remember when COVID-19 hit and when the pandemic became a norm, we just couldn’t get enough of Instagram? This was the rise of at-home-selfies and the bedroom photoshoots. Following that was the rise of fun challenges and ‘Which Disney princess are you’ filters. Fun, those days. Then came the rise of the beautiful and hot face filters – Disney princesses were put on the side for a bit.
Kylie Jenner snapped herself in the ‘Stormi Butterfly’ filter one fine day, and the rest is history. Every second cool-girl on Instagram was using his face filter and – they actually looking quite cute with it!
So who is the mystery creator behind these filters and what is her life like? How do her filters get over 30 Billion impressions in a month? Find out over a few questions with Sophie Katirai (@sophie):
Q: Did you always like making AR face filters?
A: “I always loved using AR filters, but it wasn’t until October 2019 that I found out that I can start creating my own.”
Q: When did you start considering this as a full time job?
A: “By December 2019 I was learning and creating filters full time and so when I started getting contacted by brands and celebrities to create for them as well it just happened naturally.”
Q: Which was your first viral filter on Instagram, and your story behind it?
A: “Stormi Butterfly filter which was bought by Kylie Cosmetics (https://www.instagram.com/ar/640534560084779/) followed by my Butterfly Pretty filter (https://www.instagram.com/ar/165328758248779/)
The story behind the Stormi Butterfly filter is that I am a Kylie Jenner fan. I own almost every shade of the Kylie Cosmetics Lip Kit since 2016. I was up at 6am on January 7th 2020 with my 1 year old daughter and saw Kylie had just posted a behind the scenes story about her Stormi Collection which was going to launch in February. She had three different colored silk butterflies in her hair. I found the look SO beautiful and immediately wanted to recreate it as a filter. I started right away! I drew the butterflies and animated them, then drew and layered Kylie’s makeup look, which was done by Ariel Tejada her makeup artist. The filter was ready to publish by 3 PM that same day so it took me a little over 8 hours. (I skipped breakfast and lunch!) I posted the filter on my feed and left a comment under Kylie’s last photo about the filter and also shared with Ariel that his makeup inspired the makeup in my filter. A few days later I got an email from the team and it was one of the best days of my life.
My Butterfly Pretty filter was inspired by the Stormi Butterfly Filter that I had just sold to Kylie Cosmetics. Three small butterflies that decorate the face with mismatched colored eyes. This filter was my first viral filter that reached 1 Billion impressions in less than a month. Attaching photos of celebrities using it below.”
Q: What software do you make these on and is having technical knowledge important?
A: “My filters are on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. Each platform has its own Augmented Reality software that I use to create the filters.
For Facebook and Instagram, I use ‘Spark AR’, for Snapchat I use ‘Lens Studio’ and for Tiktok I use ‘Effect House’. I also use ‘Zbrush’ and ‘Blender’ for 3D modeling and sculpting, ‘Photoshop’, ‘Procreate’ and ‘Illustrator’ to draw and edit my artwork. Yes it’s definitely important to have at least some technical knowledge start creating work that is unique and interesting. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Visual Communication so I had worked with design software for many years before I started making filters.”
Q: Which Instagram filter made by you is trending as of December 2021?
A: “I have many but my top 3 filters for December are ‘Pretty Grainy’, ‘Alexa Dellanos’, and ‘Gold Bling’.”
Pretty Grainy: https://www.facebook.com/fbcameraeffects/tryit/1632175733622621/
Alexa Dellanos: https://www.instagram.com/ar/441910870255784/
Gold Bling: https://www.instagram.com/ar/428699781791212/
Q: What kind of filters perform really well and who uses them?
A: “I specialize in face filters so I can’t speak for other types of filters. But for me light makeup filters that add subtle enhancements do best. People mostly women save them and use them daily to interact with their friends and followers. Cartoon and character face filters are fun to use but because they won’t be used regularly or more than once they don’t tend to do as well as subtle filters.”
Q: Do you think the rise of Influencer Marketing plays a big role in making a filter viral?
A: “Yes of course. When someone with a large following uses a filter it gets discovered faster.”
Q: What are your top 3 filters?
A: “Gold Bling, Baby Glam and Dorothy.”
Q: Are IG filters a real perception of a how a person looks? Why do they become so viral and is this ethical publicity in your opinion?
A: “To me filters are like makeup or fashion. We can use them to express ourselves, have fun and switch up our look. They are a form of wearable art that is trending at the moment.”
Q: Who is your top user audience? Influencers/ high-schoolers / Business owners, etc.?
A: “My filters have an average of 5 Billion impressions per week. 92% of my filter audience is female between the ages of 13 to 44. Top segment is 18 to 24 year olds.”
Follow @itp.live to be in the knows as we speak to many such interesting personalities!