Interview with Digital Artist Markus von Luecken

Lifestyle - Interview

by Melisa Kaya

We live the advantages of the digital world in every moment of our lives. Photographers are one of the first professionals that welcoming these advantages, and their creative spirits have made them progress quickly in this area. As equipment and software evolved, customer demands began to change, and digital artists specializing in this field were able to display their creativity even more infinitely. I had the opportunity to meet Markus von Luecken, one of these digital artists. I talked with Digital Artist Markus von Luecken about his career and the business side of photography.

Markus, before talking about photography and digital art, could you tell us about yourself? Who is Markus Von Luecken?

I was born in the South of Germany in 1970s and started my professional career as a photographer in advertising.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

What are the differences between photographer, retoucher and digital artist?

In my opinion, these were three different jobs in the past, but today you need to be a photographer, retoucher and digital artist at the same time to come up with good results.

How could you describe your artistic approach?

minimalistic.

When did you get your first camera and when did you start to retouch photos? How did you decide to pursue a career in digital art and photography?

I got my first SLR camera when I was 14 years old. Half a year later I knew that this will be my future.

Could you tell us about bildbotschaft and your team?

bildbotschaft is a boutique studio and was founded in 2008 and it is an award-winning German CGI and retouching studio specialing in the creation of high quality, beautiful images. We collaborate with leading photographers, creatives and agencies to achieve the most creative outcomes possible.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

What type of services do you offer to your clients?

We have our own photo studio and production services as well as a team of CGI and retouching specialists. The idea of bildbotschaft is a full-service image production company from a concept stage to final high-res images for advertising.

What kind of projects do you prefer to work on?

We always love to be involved in an early stage of a project to consult our clients in the best possible way. We do not mind to take care of short notice projects but we prefer to take some time and work out all the details in depth. We are perfectionists.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

How do you combine your creative skills with the commercial needs of companies? What is the secret?

This is not easy to answer and often were are faced with difficult budget situations. Due to the fact that we offer a broad range of services we have the freedom to provide different solutions to all of our clients and their individual budgets.

What are the key points that you pay attention to most before accepting a new project?

We need to understand what our client is looking for and we always need to be sure that we deliver results that are satisfying to our client.

In your projects, do you work in a previously defined concept or are you creating your own concept?

Actually, we do both, but we prefer to be involved in the concept development phase as it is the key for a successful project.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

You have won many awards, what are the advantages of being an award-winning digital artist? Could you tell us about awards that you won?

Unfortunately, it is quite a time consuming to take part in competitions and some of our clients do not give their approval to send in commercial projects to such competitions. We try to be part of Luerzer's 200 Best Ad Photographers and 200 Best Digital Artists. To be chosen by a jury of advertising experts from all around the world is important to us. And I am proud that my work will be presented in the upcoming book - 200 Best Digital Artists Worldwide 2019/20“.

What do you think about the effect of good artwork in the buyer's decision?

It is essential.

Is it possible for abroad clients to work with you for their projects?

Yes, for sure. We are open to requests from around the world. Creativity is not limited by any borders.

Which factors determine the project budget?

Time.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

How do you protect the rights of your works in this online era?

We are creatives, no lawyers that’s why we work with some specialists from this area that make sure all our rights are protected.

Could your clients use the works in any publication, catalog, website, ad or other platforms in the future?

Yes, all the work that is done for our clients can be used by them in any publication.

What advice would you give to digital artists who want to pursue a professional career?

Be creative.

Photo by Markus von Luecken

What is your favorite work that you have ever created?

Well, difficult to answer. There have been so many nice projects.

What do you think about social media? How can our readers follow you?

It is important to let people know what you are doing. There are different approaches to meet that, but social media is definitely one of the tools that make it easy to keep in touch with clients and other creatives. Our main social media channel is Instagram (@bildbotschaft)

Thank you Markus for this enjoyable interview.

For more information, please visit the website of Markus von Luecken

This interview was conducted in a Question-and-Answer format. The answers were checked for grammar and punctuation and published without any additional editing. Monday, December 24, 2018. All photos are the property of their respective owners.