“Instagram approached us to help them get into the augmented reality space. They wanted us to design face filters—fun, funky, freaky and furry face filters. Those animal ears? Yeah, that was us. Our creative tech department developed innovations that have enabled us to build everything in-house and deliver end to end. The mix of design, animation and code is an exciting challenge for us, and we’re always striving to push into uncharted waters on all fronts, discovering creative solutions along the way. Our goal in crafting the filters is to enable Instagram users to utilize them as storytelling tools. There’s nothing we love more than seeing what users create with them. Three years and 150 filters later, we’re still at it. So the next time your niece turns you into a slobbering puppy, you know who to blame.”