About the studio
We make data read like a story
VistaForge is a small visual storytelling studio. We take the reports, decks and dashboards that nobody wants to read and turn them into something a board, a client or a classroom follows from the first slide to the last.
How it began
A studio built around the chart that finally landed
VistaForge started in 2018, when two analysts and a designer kept meeting over the same complaint: the numbers were right, the slides were dense, and the room still did not get it. We rebuilt one quarterly review from scratch — fewer figures, clearer order, a single line of argument per page — and watched the questions change from "what does this mean" to "what do we do next." That rebuild became the method. The studio followed.
What we believe
Clarity is a design decision, not a font choice
A good chart is not a decorated spreadsheet. It is an argument with a beginning, a middle and a point. We start every project by asking what the reader must remember when the screen goes dark, then remove everything that does not serve that one thing. Colour, hierarchy and spacing come last, in service of the message — never as a replacement for it.
How we work
From raw export to a narrative in four moves
We read the data and name the one finding that matters. We draft the running order of the story on paper before a single pixel is drawn. We build the charts, diagrams and slides against a shared template so the whole document feels like one voice. Then we rehearse it with you, because a story that cannot be told out loud is not finished.
- Findings first, decoration last
- One template, one voice across the deck
- Every page earns its place or it is cut
Who we help
Teams that have to be believed in forty minutes
We work with finance teams preparing board reviews, founders raising their next round, researchers presenting findings and non-profits reporting impact to funders. The common thread is a high-stakes room and a short window. Our job is to make sure the forty minutes you get are spent on the decision, not on deciphering the slides.
By the numbers
A record measured in clarity, not pages
We keep the studio small on purpose, so every project gets a senior pair of hands. The figures below are what that focus has produced since we opened.
Where to find us
In San Francisco, open to a brief anytime
The studio sits on Market Street in San Francisco, but most of our work happens shoulder to shoulder over a shared screen, wherever your team is. If you have a report that should land harder than it does, tell us about it.
- (415) 555-0192
- 2450 Market Street, Suite 310, San Francisco, CA 94114