Instagram filters from Brazil’s designer Jeferson Araujo, loved by Anitta, Pabllo Vittar, and Disney

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The life of the 28-year-old gaucho Jeferson Araujo from Santa Maria in Brazil’s southernmost Rio Grande do Sul state took a dizzying turn last year when he began creating augmented reality effects for social networks.

Lady Gaga, Madonna, Pabllo Vittar, and Anitta are just a few names among thousands of social network users who have already tried the augmented reality (AR) filters developed by Jeferson Araujo. The filters created by the designer have reached the mark of 9 billion impressions, as the views on Instagram are called.

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For example, a few months ago, he was surprised with the news that he had been chosen to design the official augmented reality filter for the Disney movie “Cruella,” which premiered on Jan. 28.

Augmented reality, a technology that allows virtual elements to be inserted into the physical world, is not exactly a novelty. The term was coined in 1992 by scientist Thomas P. Caudell, who used it to develop the Boeing 747.

However, it has only recently been popularized. It has picked up steam with the range of devices on the market and the availability of filters on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram in 2019.

As it has spread across the networks, it has been increasingly used in various fields, from education to medicine, from art to advertising.

In the business world, the potential of augmented reality is just being explored. “Usually, clients come to us with a very loose idea. So my job is that of a creative director. I try to break down the idea of advertising and create an experience from the interaction between the user and the product,” says Jeferson Araujo to Exame newspaper.

Pabllo Vittar uses the “Rajadão” filter, Anitta uses the “Glitter” filter, digital influencer Paige Piskin uses the “Cruella” filter, Madonna uses the “Gurl” filter. Jojô Todynho and Whindersson Nunes use the “Ink” filter, the “Tattoo Filter”.

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The creation, based on the gothic aesthetic of the feature film and the look of the character whose black and white hair is a trademark, took about a month, unlike other works where the filter debuted on the client’s account, this time the launch took place on the artist’s own profile, @jepharaujo, which has over 1 million followers.

You can’t say it was a long road to reach impressive numbers online – to give you an idea: his most popular filter, “Angel,” created in June 2020, reached 9.1 billion views, with 672.4 million opens (the person tries it out but doesn’t share it), 243.7 million camera views (the person takes a picture and saves it) and 23.6 million shares. In fact, it became a digital culture phenomenon overnight with its impact.

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A MILESTONE WITH ANITTA

The expansion path began in March last year when Jeferson Araujo decided to publish filters he had already developed and seen his creations being shared at the speed of light. At that point, he had 24,000 followers. Until Anitta shared the filter “Glitter,” that number grew to 350,000 within a month.

Other filters were given to other artists, and some became clients of Jeferson. The case of Pabllo Vittar, for whom the “Rajadão” filter was created based on the singer’s clip. The same goes for Rita Lobo, for whom Jeferson created the “Irrita Lupo” filter. The chef brings her eponymous alter ego to life, which provides witty and ironic recipes full of criticism deniers.

Shortly before that, Jefferson posted “Ink,” better known as the “Tattoo Filter,” which generated 187 million impressions (the number of times a piece of content is viewed) in one week (it now exceeds 3 billion). The filter, which applies tattoos to the face and neck via virtual reality, became a hit with celebrities such as Whindersson Nunes, Jojô Todynho, Maluma (the Colombian singer), and others.

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DRAG QUEEN UNIVERSE

He is also planning a course on creating filters, focusing more on characters made up of references to movies, video games, music, and the drag queen universe. He wants to give people the opportunity to be other people.

“But we can create much more than that,” he says. “In the past, people were filtered to make them prettier. You make the nose smaller, make the mouth bigger, put on eyelashes, and we have a recipe.”

“Today I am no longer looking for more viewers, I have conquered my audience, and I want my work to contribute to something healthier, fun, and does not affect people’s self-esteem. I am careful not to offend sensitivities and create illusions of perfection because there are no perfect faces, skin, or lips. The person must enjoy looking at himself in the mirror, without any filter.”