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Overview

Your final Lens design submission and explanation of your creative process will all be weighed by a team of judges who are identifying prospective Scholars who have a deep desire to continue learning.  Lenses will be judged based on quality (40%), originality (30%) and creativity (30%).

Everyone who completes the Challenge will create a fully functional Snap lens that could be included as an impressive piece in their portfolios. As a bonus, we’ll also be offering select prizes to winners of the Final Project Showcase: 

• cash prizes, or
• a professional development opportunity to design a Lens for a client, or
• high consideration for the Snap Lens Academy, a nine-week educational learning experience for community college students (or recent transfers)
• high consideration for the Snap Lens Lab - three week, educational learning experience at Otis College of Art and Design (only open for high school students)

Create and Submit your Final Lens

Theme

We invite you to create a Snapchat Lens that spotlights the unique voices, stories, and history of a community. Your challenge is to build a Lens that captures the true essence of a group or place, celebrating its wisdom, traditions, and lived experiences.

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Your Lens should be a genuine reflection of your community – which may include: 

• Honoring elders' wisdom and valuable life experiences
• Celebrating local heroes who make a difference
• Highlighting rich cultural traditions or significant events
• Bringing an untold story of a local landmark to light

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Authenticity is Key!

We encourage you to be original and develop a concept that is truly unique to your community. While you are free to use AI tools like ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, your final creation must be rooted in authentic human experience.

Judges will be looking for original concepts that demonstrate creativity, a clear voice, and, most importantly, authenticity. Your Lens should feel like it was created from the heart of the community it represents, not just for a contest.

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Things to Consider for Lens Creation

As you design your Snap Lens for this year’s AR Lens Challenge, think about:

• What images would you design? 
• What special effects would you include? 
• What movements would trigger those special effects?
• How might you design for both the front-facing and world-facing cameras?
• Might you create a lens that can get multiple people involved?

Check out these resources to help you unite Snapchatters through Fall Festivities: 

• Snap AR Youtube Tutorials
• Snap AR Documentation (How to use Lens Studio Templates)
• Snap AR Discord Channel (Connect with other AR Creators and seek advice)

Tips: 

• You can use the existing templates in Lens studio to start building your Lens
• You can design assets through Illustrator, Photoshop, or any other design software (i.e., Canva, Figma) that you can import into Lens Studio
• You can use existing images from the web that you can import into Lens Studio (just make sure you avoid using brand logos or unapproved third party assets)
• You can incorporate movement and sound to make your Lens fun and interactive
• Try and see if you can use more than one design asset (ex: 2D, 3D, multiple Snap lenses) used throughout the Challenge to showcase your skills! 
• 🔥 HOT TIP🔥: - the use of 3 or more Snap lens templates increases your overall final score!

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Submission

1. Submit your final Challenge Lens to Snap for approval by Friday, November 21 at 11:59 pm PT/2:59 am ET

👻 When you are finished, submit your Lens to be officially published on Snap.

• For details on how to submit your Lens, click here. Here are some extra tips:
  • Make sure you are not using any copyrighted material.
  • Keep the overall size of your Lens under 8 MB.
  • Download a 10-second preview video of your Lens.
  • Click the yellow “Publish Lens” button on the top left corner of Lens Studio to begin the process.

For more support in publishing your lens and getting Snap approval, watch this video:

Once the Lens has been accepted and published, download its Snapcode (when scanned, the Snapcode will link to your Lens). Here’s an example: 

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2. Submit your approved Challenge Lens to the Snap AR Lens Challenge Team and complete the exit survey by Tuesday, November 23, 2025 at 11:59 pm PT/2:59 am ET.

For the AR Lens Challenge Submission, please include: 

• Snapcode
• A 10-second preview video of your Lens
• 5 - 6 Slide Presentation demonstrating your lens creation process, including:
  • Introduce Yourself
  • Goal for the Lens & Target Audience
  • Sketches
  • Final Challenge Lens
  • Challenges
  • Key Takeaways from the AR Lens Challenge Experience
• Responses to the exit survey

If any questions come up throughout the submission process, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at ARLensChallenge@nextshiftlearning.com. 

Best of luck in designing and submitting your final Lens!