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We are located in & around Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minnesota is located on the ancestral, contemporary, and traditional lands of the Dakota, Ojibwe, Ho-Chunk, Cheyenne, Oto, Iowa, and Sauk and Meskwaki people.
'Minnesota' is derived from the Dakota phrase Mni Sota Makoce — meaning Land Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds.
Read why our collaborators love working with us!
“After an extensive search, we hired Background Stories to support our graphic design needs. ...We enjoyed the entire design process and the participatory engagement that helped to achieve designs that not only we loved but resonated well with organizations we work with. ...We are thrilled to continue working with them on some of our new future design needs.”
Jessica A. Lenz, Senior Technical Advisor, Humanitarian Policy & Practice Team, InterAction
“It is challenging to take highly technical subject matter and communicate it graphically so it is easily understandable; this is what Background Stories does well.”
Brendan Jordan, Vice President, Transportation and Fuels, Great Plains Institute
"When we needed to translate a text and numbers-heavy document [...] I knew the Background Stories team was the right team for making our document digestible and impactful. This is the fourth project we've worked with them on, and I continue to be amazed by their ability to take hard-to-explain concepts and illustrate them beautifully."
Amanda LaGrange, CEO, Tech Dump & Tech Discounts
“Before Background Stories’ dataviz, it was hard to get people to pay attention. Their eyes were glazing over. Now people lean in and say ‘this is really cool’. We’re more quickly able to get to a better conversation.”
Ted Carling, Co-Founder & COO, Ecotone Analytics
“The Background Stories team delivered a product on a tight timeline that surpassed our expectations. They took a very long white paper and condensed it into a one-minute video that told exactly the story we wanted.”
Benjamin L. Gerber, President & Chief Executive Officer, M-RETS Inc.
"We needed to distill complex scientific knowledge about interactions of soil, cropping systems, plant roots, and water movement into engaging graphics and text that would speak to the intended audience. Background Stories was able to take floods (pun intended) of input [...] and work with us to craft it into one clear, crisp, attractive, and accurate page."
Jane Jewett, Associate Director, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
“The constant communication with the PEP Team and willingness to continually work to portray what we wanted to communicate exceeded our expectation, especially when our deadlines were so tight and there were so many changes and reviews that took place.”
Joyce Novak, PhD, Program Director, Peconic Estuary Partnership
"Arlene helped us to brainstorm how we should best convey information in graphic form. She took great initiative in trying to better understand the technical aspects of the work we do so that it could be illustrated in an artistic, yet informational way to our intended audience.”
Marisa Lewis, Communications Specialist, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
"The entire team at Background Stories was very easy to work with. They took the job seriously, but still approached each project with fun energy, creativity, and openness."
Whitney Scheffel, Senior Scientist, Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program (PPBEP)
"The graphics were instrumental in helping the non-lawyers – our principal audience – follow the concepts."
Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict
"FEAST! is a non-profit event that aims to raise awareness of and support our local foodshed and we have to work hard to make sure this mission isn't lost in the festival atmosphere. Background Stories' project achieved this by asking participants to reflect on important issues related to food security, environmental sustainability, and the local economy. There were many thoughtful responses and it was wonderful to see how the participants had fun with the project"
Eli Goodwell, Associate Director, Renewing the Countryside
"Choosing Background Stories for the design and lay-out of our Conservation Management Plan was one of the best decisions we ever made!"
Joyce Novak, PhD, Program Director, Peconic Estuary Partnership - NEIWPCC
"At ACP, we love working with Background Stories, and we love what they do! For the past five years, their team has helped us create informative and beautiful designs to help audiences 'get' our causes at-a-glance. From mobilizing citizens to educating policymakers, Background Stories helps us expertly navigate the ways to increase our impact."
Kim McIntyre, Aquarium Conservation Partnership
"“I consider Background Stories my resource for 'hard to describe' stuff!”
Robin Teets, NGO Tuna Forum, ARIA Strategic Communications
“After an extensive search, we hired Background Stories to support our graphic design needs. ...We enjoyed the entire design process and the participatory engagement that helped to achieve designs that not only we loved but resonated well with organizations we work with. ...We are thrilled to continue working with them on some of our new future design needs.”
Jessica A. Lenz, Senior Technical Advisor, Humanitarian Policy & Practice Team, InterAction
“It is challenging to take highly technical subject matter and communicate it graphically so it is easily understandable; this is what Background Stories does well.”
Brendan Jordan, Vice President, Transportation and Fuels, Great Plains Institute
"When we needed to translate a text and numbers-heavy document [...] I knew the Background Stories team was the right team for making our document digestible and impactful. This is the fourth project we've worked with them on, and I continue to be amazed by their ability to take hard-to-explain concepts and illustrate them beautifully."
Amanda LaGrange, CEO, Tech Dump & Tech Discounts
“Before Background Stories’ dataviz, it was hard to get people to pay attention. Their eyes were glazing over. Now people lean in and say ‘this is really cool’. We’re more quickly able to get to a better conversation.”
Ted Carling, Co-Founder & COO, Ecotone Analytics
“The Background Stories team delivered a product on a tight timeline that surpassed our expectations. They took a very long white paper and condensed it into a one-minute video that told exactly the story we wanted.”
Benjamin L. Gerber, President & Chief Executive Officer, M-RETS Inc.
"We needed to distill complex scientific knowledge about interactions of soil, cropping systems, plant roots, and water movement into engaging graphics and text that would speak to the intended audience. Background Stories was able to take floods (pun intended) of input [...] and work with us to craft it into one clear, crisp, attractive, and accurate page."
Jane Jewett, Associate Director, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
“The constant communication with the PEP Team and willingness to continually work to portray what we wanted to communicate exceeded our expectation, especially when our deadlines were so tight and there were so many changes and reviews that took place.”
Joyce Novak, PhD, Program Director, Peconic Estuary Partnership
"Arlene helped us to brainstorm how we should best convey information in graphic form. She took great initiative in trying to better understand the technical aspects of the work we do so that it could be illustrated in an artistic, yet informational way to our intended audience.”
Marisa Lewis, Communications Specialist, National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC)
"The entire team at Background Stories was very easy to work with. They took the job seriously, but still approached each project with fun energy, creativity, and openness."
Whitney Scheffel, Senior Scientist, Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program (PPBEP)
"The graphics were instrumental in helping the non-lawyers – our principal audience – follow the concepts."
Emanuela-Chiara Gillard, Senior Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict
"FEAST! is a non-profit event that aims to raise awareness of and support our local foodshed and we have to work hard to make sure this mission isn't lost in the festival atmosphere. Background Stories' project achieved this by asking participants to reflect on important issues related to food security, environmental sustainability, and the local economy. There were many thoughtful responses and it was wonderful to see how the participants had fun with the project"
Eli Goodwell, Associate Director, Renewing the Countryside
"Choosing Background Stories for the design and lay-out of our Conservation Management Plan was one of the best decisions we ever made!"
Joyce Novak, PhD, Program Director, Peconic Estuary Partnership - NEIWPCC
"At ACP, we love working with Background Stories, and we love what they do! For the past five years, their team has helped us create informative and beautiful designs to help audiences 'get' our causes at-a-glance. From mobilizing citizens to educating policymakers, Background Stories helps us expertly navigate the ways to increase our impact."
Kim McIntyre, Aquarium Conservation Partnership
"“I consider Background Stories my resource for 'hard to describe' stuff!”
Robin Teets, NGO Tuna Forum, ARIA Strategic Communications
“After an extensive search, we hired Background Stories to support our graphic design needs. ...We enjoyed the entire design process and the participatory engagement that helped to achieve designs that not only we loved but resonated well with organizations we work with. ...We are thrilled to continue working with them on some of our new future design needs.”
Jessica A. Lenz, Senior Technical Advisor, Humanitarian Policy & Practice Team, InterAction