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SCALE Editions
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Our story

Tech-Nerd meets Science-Nerd

Tech nerd and science nerd, that's us: Nikolai and Fabian. We have known each other not for half a lifetime but for a whole one, because we are brothers. Together, we are SCALE Editions.

One of us is an absolute tech and digital nerd. The other is a science and aquarium geek. What connects us is a fascination with capturing the aesthetics of things by technical means, especially those of nature.

It began with a cichlid

Butterfly cichlids are little divas. Beautiful to look at, lively and curious, but rather short-lived. Even with the best care, you only keep them for two or three years. Fine specimens have become rare. With splendid colours and imposing fin rays, they are seldom as perfect in the aquarium hobby as they are when swimming in the waters of the Orinoco in Venezuela. Fabian was lucky enough to get hold of exactly such a specimen from a local breeder. After a good two years, it too reached the end of its life. What remained was the memory of the little fish that would even eat from your hand. A small keepsake seemed more than fitting.

Nikolai was exactly the right person to ask. Between 3D printers, plotters, lasers and the like, his workshop should surely hold something that could bring the fish back to life.

We asked ourselves: how do you create a memory that is not kitschy but elegant, timeless and unobtrusive? A work of art that also appeals to people who have no aquarium themselves.

Nikolai had been experimenting for some time with the aesthetic rendering of technical objects. A fish was new, and our shared interest was sparked. A few days and a dozen voice messages later, an idea was born: SCALE Editions.

The Art of Science & Technology: how we work

Today the roles are clearly divided: with his background in natural science and his experience in aquariums and terrariums, Fabian curates the natural history motifs and content. Together we decide which motifs go into one of our editions. Nikolai brings more than 25 years of experience in the digital, tech and IT sectors to bring them to life for you.

Our motifs are created in our own workshop near Hamburg. There we develop and refine them so that every scale, every fin ray and every line comes across as perfectly as possible.

Sheet by sheet for the highest quality

We deliberately produce locally and by hand. We have a 10 W diode laser and a 40 W CO2 laser at our disposal. Before engraving, we carefully check every sheet of the specialty paper for flaws. Each sheet is placed by hand in a fixture that Nikolai built especially for SCALE Editions. The laser then sets the vector graphic we have prepared, white on black, line by line, into the specialty paper.

Every sheet passes through our hands several times, so that we can be sure your motif reaches you in the highest quality. And because we produce near Hamburg, the distances stay short. Our solid wood picture frames come from Italy.

With SCALE Editions we combine true handcraft from the region with a high scientific and aesthetic standard and clean technical execution, or in short: The Art of Science & Technology.

Nikolai Bockholt

Technology & laser

Lasers, pen plotters, 3D printers and more microcontrollers than a household needs: Nikolai's workshop near Hamburg has everything that draws, cuts or blinks. He has been building digital things since 2001, first with his own company, then in leading roles at Hamburg agencies and for almost ten years at Google in EMEA. Today he is Head of AI at the M&A advisory firm Carlsquare and teaches Creative Technology at Brand University Hamburg. For SCALE Editions he turns Fabian's motifs into vectors and laser settings. He built the shop you are browsing, too.

Fabian Bockholt

Natural science & aquariums, M.Sc.

Turtles, rats, hamsters, birds, ants, bearded dragons, cockroaches, fish, crayfish or shrimp? In Fabian's heart (and flat) everything with fins, antennae and four or more legs finds a place. Fabian studied Molecular Life Science (biochemistry and molecular biology) at the University of Hamburg, worked as a medical and science editor and scientific consultant at various agencies and most recently at a large biotechnology company. One of his favourite books, surprise: “Your Inner Fish” by Neil Shubin.

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