Story
Story Inc is a Wellington, New Zealand-based visitor experience design studio founded in 1999 that creates and consults on museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks worldwide through end-to-end design, content, and production services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersWellington, New Zealand
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Story does
Story Inc is a Wellington, New Zealand-based visitor experience design studio founded in 1998/1999 by James McLean, Steve La Hood, and Dean Cato. The company provides end-to-end design, content development, and production services for museums, galleries, heritage sites, science centres, and theme parks. Its core offerings span spatial design, interactive multimedia, object theatres, audio guides, touch-screen experiences (including the Whimbrel/Scrollytelling and Document Tables platforms), and immersive installations. Named flagship projects include Golden Days at Te Papa (1998), Museum of Siam in Bangkok (2007), He Tohu at the National Library of New Zealand (2017), Future Makers at Science Centre Singapore (2019), Get Curious! at the National Museum of Singapore (2019), and Sharks and Burra at the Australian Museum.
The company operates as a project-based professional services firm with a small core staff of 11-50 employees supplemented by a contractor network. It is founder-owned, privately held, and has no external venture or private equity funding. Revenue is generated through custom project-based contracts with public-sector cultural institutions, secured via direct engagement and competitive tendering, with multi-year project cycles and individually scoped pricing. Distribution is direct enterprise sales to museums and cultural bodies across New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, and Thailand. The firm has begun layering productized offerings on top of bespoke work, notably Curio — a DIY digital interactive software platform co-developed with technology partner Click Suite. Strategic partnerships with Studio Cassells (Hong Kong, 3D and graphic design), Click Suite (interactives and software), Studio Pacific Architecture (architecture and engineering), and Glasbau Hahn (display cases) enable full-stack delivery without in-house capacity in those specialties.
Story firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Story
- Legal name
- Story Inc
- Website
- https://storyinc.co.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Story Inc is a Wellington, New Zealand-based visitor experience design studio founded in 1999 that creates and consults on museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks worldwide through end-to-end design, content, and production services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Story industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Museum Exhibition Design
- NAICS
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71)
- SIC
- Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cultural Centers & Multidisciplinary Arts Institutions (THAJADAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Production Design & Art Department Services (Sets, Props, Scenic) (MPADAFAG), Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)
Keywords
Where Story is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wellington
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices1 record
Markets served
Story business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Visitor Experience Design and Consulting: Full-service visitor experience design from concept through production, including early consultations, design, content development, project management, and creative supervision of implementation for museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Custom project-based pricing for visitor experience design and consulting services. |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Story product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Story Inc is a New Zealand-based visitor experience design studio that creates and consults on exhibitions and installations for museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks worldwide. The studio delivers full-service design from early consultation and concept development through content writing, spatial and interactive design, project management, and creative supervision of implementation. Deliverables include object theatres, interactive touchscreens, audio guides, multimedia environments, and physical exhibits that combine storytelling with mixed media.
Product overview
Story Inc is a New Zealand-based visitor experience design company that creates and consults on museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks. The company operates as a project-based studio rather than a software platform, delivering physical and multimedia visitor experiences. Their portfolio includes named projects like Golden Days (object theatre at Te Papa), Museum of Siam, Future Makers (Science Centre Singapore), He Tohu (National Library), Sharks: The Exhibition (Australian Museum), Get Curious! (family guidebook), Burra (interactive learning space), and Whimbrels (scrollytelling touchscreens). Services span concept development, content writing, experience design, spatial design, graphic design, project management, and creative supervision of implementation.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Golden Days An object theatre experience at Te Papa Tongarewa (Museum of New Zealand) using archival and new footage, robotics, sound and theatrical lighting to tell an emotional popular history of New Zealand for general visitors.
- Museum of Siam Interactive history museum in Bangkok's heritage building using mixed media to explore Thailand's diverse history, primarily targeted at young Thai people.
- He Tohu Permanent exhibition at New Zealand's National Library in Wellington showcasing three iconic constitutional documents — He Whakaputanga, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the 1893 Women's Suffrage Petition — using interactive document touch tables, multimedia and award-winning spatial design.
- Sharks: The Exhibition A major exhibition at the Australian Museum in Sydney mixing indigenous knowledge, conservation and science about sharks through multimedia content, interactives and storytelling.
- Future Makers Exhibition at Science Centre Singapore on engineering featuring a Robot Object Theatre with four robotic arms, a Drone-Rover Driving Arena, engineering challenge interactives, and an Escape Room experience.
- Burra Interactive learning space at the Australian Museum in Sydney based on First Nations concepts, designed as a natural history discovery area for children featuring environmental illustrations and indigenous knowledge.
- Get Curious! Interactive family guidebook for the National Museum of Singapore targeting children aged 5-8, featuring rhyming text, lift-the-flap elements, scratch-and-sniff, red glasses for hidden details, and stickers.
Companies that use Story
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Story technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Story partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Victoria University Masters of UX Design Capstone TeamminorInternship partnership with five graduate students (Alina, Eva, Clara, Kayla and Kyla) who researched and refined Story Inc's whimbrel/scrollytelling platform as part of their final Masters project.
- Studio CassellscoreLong-term collaborators based in Hong Kong. Worked together on Sharks exhibition at Australian Museum and Future Makers at Science Centre Singapore. Studio Cassells handled 3D and graphic design.
- Studio CassellscoreOn Burra project at Australian Museum, Studio Cassells 3D designer Lucy Cant contributed to the First Nations-based natural history discovery area for children.
- Click SuitecoreJoint development of Curio - a DIY digital interactive software platform for GLAM institutions. Story Inc and Click Suite developed the product after creating interactive Document Tables for He Tohu.
- Studio Pacific ArchitecturecoreArchitecture firm partnership on He Tohu exhibition at National Library. Studio Pacific Architecture handled building, construction and engineering aspects while Story Inc led design and content development.
- Click SuitecoreInteractive designers who worked with Story Inc on He Tohu exhibition, developing interactive elements and web components for the visitor experience.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Story competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Local Projects: US-based experience design studio that creates award-winning interactive installations, exhibitions, and digital experiences for museums, cultural institutions and public spaces. Directly comparable to Story Inc in service offering, client base (museums and cultural institutions), and immersive storytelling approach.
- Real Studios: UK-based museum and heritage experience design firm specialising in visitor experiences, interactives and interpretive design for cultural institutions. Operates in the same vertical (museums, galleries, heritage sites) with a comparable full-service, project-based delivery model.
- Mather & Co: UK-based museum and visitor centre design company delivering exhibition and interpretation design for museums and cultural attractions. Closely matched to Story Inc in terms of clientele (cultural institutions), multidisciplinary design team, and international project delivery.
- Event Communications: London-based exhibition and museum design firm offering interpretation, interactives, and multimedia for museums, galleries and heritage sites. Comparable in serving GLAM institutions with integrated design, content, and audiovisual capabilities.
- Northern Light Productions: UK-based heritage interpretation and visitor experience consultancy that designs museum, heritage centre, and cultural visitor experiences internationally. Directly comparable consulting-led model serving cultural institutions with multimedia and exhibition design.
- Batavia Studios: Australian museum and visitor experience design firm specialising in cultural storytelling and exhibition design across museums, galleries and cultural institutions. Highly comparable to Story Inc in regional scope (Oceania), client type, and immersive narrative-led approach.
- Cultural Innovations: International cultural consultancy offering master planning, exhibition design, and interpretive strategy for museums and heritage attractions. Operates in the same institutional market and shares a project-based advisory model.
- Luci Creative: US-based creative firm that designs and produces visitor experiences, interactives, and exhibitions for museums, zoos, aquariums, and cultural centres. Directly comparable service portfolio and client verticals to Story Inc.
- Land Design Studios: Australia-based design studio producing immersive visitor experiences, exhibitions and interpretive design for museums and cultural attractions. Comparable geography, scale and project-based design delivery for cultural institutions.
Others
- Studio Cassells: Hong Kong-based design collaborator that has partnered with Story Inc on Australian Museum and Science Centre Singapore projects to deliver 3D and graphic design. Closely related as a repeat collaborator rather than a direct competitor, working in the same museum exhibition space with complementary design services.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Story social profiles
Digital presenceStory financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Story leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Story funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Story M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Story
What does Story do?
Story Inc is a New Zealand-based visitor experience design studio that creates and consults on exhibitions and installations for museums, galleries, heritage sites, and theme parks worldwide. The studio delivers full-service design from early consultation and concept development through content writing, spatial and interactive design, project management, and creative supervision of implementation. Deliverables include object theatres, interactive touchscreens, audio guides, multimedia environments, and physical exhibits that combine storytelling with mixed media.
Is Story a public or private company?
Story is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Story founded?
Story was founded in 1998. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Story based?
Story is headquartered in Wellington, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does Story make money?
One revenue line is on record: visitor Experience Design and Consulting.
Who are Story's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Local Projects, Real Studios, Mather & Co, Event Communications, Northern Light Productions, Batavia Studios, Cultural Innovations, Luci Creative and Land Design Studios. Studio Cassells is listed as an others.
Does Story have an API?
No public API is recorded for Story.
What industry is Story in?
Story's product category is Museum Exhibition Design. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAJADAJ, Cultural Centers & Multidisciplinary Arts Institutions, with a secondary code of MPADAFAG, Production Design & Art Department Services (Sets, Props, Scenic). Its NAICS code is 71 and its SIC code is 7330.