On Sunday, during the Seahawks' Week 4 game against the Indianapolis Colts, fans will see a new gameday feature on Snapchat with a geofilter specific to CenturyLink Field giving 12s a unique way to commemorate the game. We met with Rafael Calonzo Jr., who designed the Snapchat filter, to put a face to the feature you'll be using on Sunday!
When this idea first came to his attention, Calonzo wanted to be a part of it. He's had dedication to this team, "Since the Jack Patera days. Zorn to Largent, Efren Herrera fake field goals!" The Seahawks focus was something that Calonzo has been motivated by since he began his art.
"In 1981, I won 2nd place in an NFL poster contest for Sears," Calonzo explained. "My little brother won 1st in his age bracket, the prize for which was a full-sized NFL football. I was super jealous. You could say my whole art career has been trying to win that football."
Beginning the process of narrowing down the design was a task. When he heard about the jersey retirement taking place this weekend for Seahawks Legend Kenny Easley, inspiration came to him.
"I started by thinking about all the Seahawks greats whose numbers have been retired, and how inspiring it is to see their numbers in the rafters," Calonzo said.
Once he had the concept he approached his next obstacle. Creating a geofilter was a new type of piece for Calonzo to tackle. Calonzo said he is "an illustrator and animator who has worked in videogames and cartoons my whole career." When asked how it compared to other projects he's worked on he said, "Usually when I make a design, it is the focal point. For this, I had to consider that the focal point is whatever the person is photographing and design around that."
He hopes fans take a few things away from this piece. He said his biggest goal is, "that younger and newer fans are inspired by Mr. Easley, and this design, to learn more about that earlier era of Seahawks football, when we weren't loaded with household names and playoff berths were not a certainty, but the fans packed the Kingdome no matter what!"
So 12s be on the lookout this weekend and on October 29th for geofilters designed by Calonzo to help you capture your experience.
