Meet The Artist Behind Woodridge's Snapchat Selfies

If you’ve ever used Snapchat, you know one of the best features of the image messaging app is using and discovering new geofilters.

Geofilters are localized graphic designs that can be placed on top of photos taken in Snapchat. They’re tied to specific places, and they can offer users a glimpse into the personality of a neighborhood, village or city.

If you think Snapchat has hired a dedicated team of graphic designers to investigate and illustrate cities around the world to make geofilters, you’re wrong. Geofilters are mostly created by local artists on their own time. Their designs have to pass Snapchat’s approval process before they can be slid onto your snap.

We’ve tracked down a few of these unsung artists to ask about the secrets behind making geofilters for a top mobile app company. Ashley Donisch is just one of the artists behind the designs in front of your selfies.

Name: Ashley Donisch
Age: 23
Hometown: Originally from Plainfield, lives in Lisle
Geofilter locations: Woodridge and Lisle
Day job: Graphic designer at the Morton Arboretum
Design experience: Degree in graphic design from Illinois State University, freelance and professional designer.

1. What made you want to create a Snapchat Geofilter?
Everytime we go to Naperville, they have the cool ones, and Lockport even has one. I wondered, how did these towns get this? I did research found anyone can design and submit geofilters. You can also make them for events.

More in this series:

• Meet The Artist Behind Elmhurst’s Snapchat Selfies
• Meet The Artist Behind La Grange and Hinsdale’s Snapchat Selfies
• Meet The Artist Behind Glen Ellyn’s Snapchat Selfies
• Meet An Artist Behind Naperville’s Snapchat Selfies

2. What was the process for submitting your design?
To test it out, I drew up the Lisle one and submitted it, and then when it was approved, I wanted to keep doing other ones. My friend lives in Woodridge, so I figured I’d probably do one for Plainfield and Woodridge. I spent a couple hours working on them here and there when I had some free time for something fun to do. Lisle and Woodridge have a lot of trees, so I had those drawn out. I asked people if they would actually use the filter, and people liked them. I submitted it, they ask why an area means something to you, you check off coordinates, map the area for the filter to be used. It took about a week to be approved. When the first one was approved, I was like, “Oh my god, look at this!” I was sending Snapchats left and right.

3. What inspired your geofilter design?
I was inspired working at the arboretum in Lisle. It is the arboretum village. I went off trees, decided on a style and moved forward with that. For Woodridge, I did something similar. I just based it off trees, I kept it fairly simple. I didn’t want to make it too woodsy. I tried to make it as relevant as possible.

4. What was it like to see your geofilter come to life on Snapchat?
It was very cool, I didn’t realize how many people use the filters on Snapchat. One of my friends posted an image of it to Facebook, and it got comments from people I didn’t know. As a graphic designer, it’s another way to get some of my work out there, even though I don’t need to be recognized for it, it’s just something cool.

5. Has being a geofilter artist come with any fame or fortune?
Not as of yet. It wasn’t anything I expected, I just thought I’d be a nameless person making these filters. I’m motivated to make more. It’s definitely fun, compared to other things I do for freelance work. It’s easy to make and I don’t have to have client approve it.

6. How does it feel to know people in the community are putting your artwork on their selfies?
I think that is pretty awesome. I have a website with my work on it that I intend to show future employees.

Images courtesy of Ashley Donisch.
Know anyone else who has created local Snapchat geofilters? Email morgan.searles@patch.com.