The legendary desert festival partnered with a number of companies to captivate festival-goers.
Coachella Weekend 2 has officially wrapped and a weekend it was. Meta used the magical event to announce a new partnership that brought Girls Who Code, RCA Records, and Instagram influencer/musician Becky G together for a one-of-a-kind program designed to educate young women of color about the fundamentals of coding and augmented reality (AR) development.
The program included AR Instagram filters created by artists Britney Huiracocha, Priscilla Ramos, Vanessa Gonzalez, Arely Martinez Garcia, America Gonzalez, Jada Martin, and Dissy Vargas. Each of them was tasked with creating a new Meta Spark effect modeled after Becky G’s set design and wardrobe from this year’s Coachella Music Festival.
The filters, created by each artist, mark the culmination of Meta’s efforts to support the community engagement and marketing of female artists on the RCA roster.
“I’m thrilled to be partnering with Meta and Girls Who Code on this unique and innovative fan experience for Coachella. It’s important that we continue to champion and empower the next generation of young women as they pursue their passions, and I’m excited to have the opportunity to showcase their work,” said Becky G.
Coachella festival-goers could also explore a series of AR portals located at different parts of the festival grounds in an experience Nadia Tamez, a Mexican-based AR artist and Meta collaborator, calls The Mirage. This included virtual scavenger hunts, various artist-branded face effects, and more.
Coachella festival-goers enjoyed the following AR experiences:
- The AR effect incorporates colors and themes from Becky G’s makeup brand, Treslúce Beauty, as well as 3D environmental elements from the desert scenery including the abstracted flowers and cactus.
- With each tap the user will unlock four different beauty looks with Tresluce’s make-up delicately integrated, honoring self-expression and authentic beauty, adding a fun complement to one’s unretouched beauty. The words “te luce bien” or “looks good on you” was made with rotulos, a traditional Mexican hand-painted technique for lettering, giving voice to the dreams, the boldness, the unapologetic confidence, color, and culture.
- The transparency and iridescence in the 3D flowers and cactus seek to reflect what is being presented, adding another dimension to the spectator’s interaction with Becky G’s performance and evidencing how everyone is connecting through music and vibration with the elements moving to the rhythm of the sound.
For Tamez, it was an honor to collaborate on such a special project with Becky G, who she considers a huge role model. Being able to work with a young Latinx woman who is passionate about her roots and her dream is a great inspiration for Tamez and the company she founded, Synergy Studio.
“Together we created this AR effect celebrating culture and tradition in an innovative and disruptive way, seeking to celebrate the connection between spectator and artist, making visible through audio-reactive art that brings to life the connection to the sound of her music and resonating her story.”
According to Girls Who Code CEO, Tarika Barrett, the project is yet another example of how the organization is committed to supporting and equipping young women of color with the necessary skills to succeed in the tech sector.
“Girls Who Code students are some of the most powerful and creative changemakers in the world today, and this effect is yet another example of what they can achieve when they are given a seat at the table in the tech industry,” said Barrett.
Girls Who Code and Meta have also partnered with various prominent organizations such as the Doja Cat Foundation and the Chadwick Boseman Foundation. The AR effect featured themes and colors from Becky G’s makeup brand, Treslce Beauty. In addition, the desert scenery featured in the design included cacti and flowers.
To learn more about the AR experiences at Coachella, click here. To learn more about Girls Who Code, click here. And keep a look out for more of our Coachella 2023 coverage over the next few days!
Feature Image Credit: Meta, Girls Who Code, RCA Records
