History
At a glance · Full story · Timeline
At a glance
SCALE is a publisher of books, journals, and records about culture and technology—knowledge for a world of limited resources. Founded in 2004 as a monthly journal of aesthetics and computation at UC San Diego, SCALE returned as a weekly program in 2019, then as book-scale anthologies and experiments in cultural technology (open PDFs, web editions, and limited digital collectibles). This site restores the 2004 and 2019 archives and publishes contemporary issues. Browse the journals, books, records, and editors.
The full story
Origins (2001–2004)
SCALE began at UC San Diego in 2004 as a monthly journal of aesthetics and computation, co-founded by Jonathan Phillips and Patrick W. Deegan. Nine issue numbers appeared that year; seven combined PDF editions survive in the public mirror. ISSN 1551-3483 (print) and 1551-3475 (online).
SCALE 2004 · provenance & restoration
Hiatus and mirror gaps (2005–2018)
Material between the founding volume and the 2019 program is not in the public mirror. Researchers should contact up@scalepublishing.com.
Weekly season (2019)
Weekly editions with word-of-the-week prompts, curated links, and Friday PDFs.
SCALE 2019 · context & timeline
Books, design, and cultural technology (2020–2022)
- 2021 — (UN)LOCKED: Memories of Wuhan (/issues/wuhan/): anthology on Wuhan before and during early COVID-19; among early PDF-on-chain experiments with the Hic et Nunc community.
- 2021 — SCALE Multiplier (/issues/multiplier/): nine essays on scales of writing; 88 limited NFT keys unlocked full text under CC0+.
- 2022 — New Tools for Organizing the Sensorium (/issues/sensorium/): edited volume on perception, tools, and intelligence.
SCALE Publishing today
SCALE Publishing collects releases, documents restoration, and publishes open archives—per-issue pages, a books/journals/records catalog, and historical editions as PDFs and web text.
Editors: /editors/
Timeline
| Year | Milestone | Link |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | SCALE founded at UCSD; nine issues (print + PDF) | /issues/2004/ |
| 2004 | ISSN registered (print 1551-3483, online 1551-3475) | /impressum/#scale |
| 2005–2018 | (gap in public mirror) | contact |
| 2019 | Weekly program | /issues/2019/ |
| 2021-04 | (UN)LOCKED: Memories of Wuhan | /issues/wuhan/ |
| 2021-06 | Multiplier NFT airdrop | /posts/scale-announce-nft-airdrop-multiplier/ |
| 2021-12 | SCALE Multiplier (88 collectible keys) | /issues/multiplier/ |
| 2022-11 | New Tools for Organizing the Sensorium | /issues/sensorium/ |
| 2026 | Archive restoration (2004 + 2019, catalog) | /archives/ |