Meet Neuland Toolmaster® Benjamin Felis

"From street vandal to graphic recorder"

This is Benjamin Felis . Meeting him today, you might find it hard to believe, but this "sly fox" among the Toolmasters even spent a night in jail. At the age of 13, he was caught by the police spraying graffiti. Of course, he's completely tame now and no longer "wastes" his artistic talent on highway overpasses at night. In fact, he's already worked in over 20 countries, teaching thousands of people and, naturally, inspiring them with his graphic recordings.

Since Ben dedicated his life to drawing, he works as a visualization instructor, illustrator, and is even booked as a speaker for interactive presentations. Of course, you all want to know where you can best meet him. The good news first: Yes, he also gives workshops. But: You'll have to read to the end to find out where and when. Deal? 😉

Okay, let's get started. You're now a Neuland Toolmaster® and our community is eager to get to know you better. Which three hashtags best describe you?

#graphicrecording

#GRlikaPRO

#IlovemyjobandIampaidforit

Very self-confident, that's the way to do it. 😉 And when did you decide to turn what you enjoy into your profession... and why?

I've always been involved with graffiti and street art, and as an outdoor and communication trainer, I discovered flipcharts. This allowed me to remain artistically active, inspire people, and make a good living from it.

Then, in 2009, came the decisive moment during an internship in International Leadership Development at Deutsche Post/DHL: My department was just below the board level, and I gained insights into high-end seminars. One day, they brought in a graphic recording – I was blown away…

But first, I became managing director of the Berlin-based training company stift & seil. There, in 2010, I gave my first visualization seminars – always keeping graphic recording in mind. However, it wasn't until 2013 that I became self-employed as a full-time graphic recorder and visualization instructor. And since then, I haven't wanted to do anything else!

You've already had quite a few experiences. So we're naturally interested in what comes to mind when you hear the word "collaboration ."

When I think about collaboration, I think of opportunities, new ways of thinking, energy, but also compromises, patience, and time investment. At the same time, we cannot progress without cooperation – this applies to small-scale environments (family, friends, etc.) as well as to larger contexts (globalization, climate, etc.).
Without cooperation, there is no future!

You're probably right. Is there an experience in your life that has particularly shaped you? And would you be willing to draw it for us?

I'm a huge fan of Brazil, especially the city of Rio de Janeiro. In 2017, I traveled there with my now-wife Marie and proposed to her atop Sugarloaf Mountain in the evening sun. Luckily, she said "yes"—and so that moment and that mountain will forever be a part of our lives. Our rings have a small illustration of the mountain engraved on them—and we both now have that illustration as a tattoo.

By now, our female readers are probably melting. 😉 So, let's move on to a slightly different kind of question: You're stranded on a deserted island. When you search your bags, you find nothing but Estatics. What do you do?

I would try to harness all the static energy to charge my phone and tell my family where I've landed. 🙂

Glad we cleared that up! Sounds almost like a case for the MythBusters. Is there anything you'd like to share with our community before we wrap up... perhaps even in the form of a drawing?

The idea behind it is: Never underestimate the power of small but consistent steps. Small but consistent changes lead to a significant shift in direction in the long run, require little effort, and are enjoyable. This could be doing 10 minutes of intense exercise every other day, meditating for 5 minutes daily, or using simple visualization techniques in everyday (professional) life.

For example, I personally do short workouts three times a week, between 10 and 20 minutes. At home and on the go, whenever possible (there are so many handy apps for that). And I'm also getting into the habit of making small improvements to my visualizations, like integrating a new symbol, a new font, or a new color combination. That way, I'm gradually expanding my repertoire, and now my images are quite impressive. 🙂

It can be so simple, right? 😉 Dear Ben, thank you for this interview, we really enjoyed it.

Here's a quick update on Ben's upcoming open workshops. One is coming up very soon, from April 22nd to 24th. And get this: it will be one of the first official workshops in the new Neuland Playground®. You can register now at this link. There's also another workshop in Berlin from September 11th to 13th, and for more information about future events, it's worth following Ben on Facebook , Instagram , or LinkedIn , or getting in touch.

The two workshops have very different focuses: visualization, graphic recording, visual storytelling, and presentation skills. However, for those who can't make it on those days or live too far away, Ben's School for Graphic Recording now even offers online graphic recording courses, regardless of whether you're a beginner or advanced. Well, did we overpromise? 🙂