Starting on Wednesday, Jan. 21, snapchats taken in Westport will be stamped with their own special Geofilter, designed by one of Staples’ own.
Geofilters, graphics that indicate the location where the photo was taken, were introduced to certain areas of New York and Los Angeles in July of 2014. Last December, Snapchat decided to make it possible for anyone to submit their own, opening the door to hundreds of new filters, including the one in Westport.
Created by Staples student Julia Schorr ’16, the new filter displays an iconic image of Westport: the Compo Beach cannons.
“I decided to make one because I had seen towns when I was traveling that had Geofilters and I had always wanted one for Westport, so I could represent my hometown,” Schorr said.
Schorr explained that she submitted the graphic, made on Adobe Illustrator, on Saturday. It finally got approved on Wednesday.
“It’s really cool that Snapchat allows anyone to create a design that your whole town can use,” Schorr added.
Students, discovering the filter for the first time, had different reactions.
“I was just really confused as to why we have one…[but it’s] still kinda cool,” Shannon Cardoza ’15 said.
Despite some confusion, the overall feeling from students was positive.
“I think it’s a pretty cool addition,” Billy Hutchison ’17 said. “The cannon is an iconic figure to the town, and it’s nice that it’s being recognized.”
Update: On Wednesday, Jan. 28, Schorr created two new Geofilters, specifically for Staples High School.
The first displays the Staples block ‘S’ logo with a construction hat, an allude to Staples’ Wrecker mascot. The second is a banner that runs along the bottom of the screen, with two axes criss-crossed.
