Seed was founded in Montreal by Adam Bly and the magazine was then headquartered in New York with bureaus around the world.

Seed was a finalist for two National Magazine Awards in 2007 in the categories of Design and General Excellence (100,000 to 250,000), was the recipient of the Utne Independent Press Award, and was included in the 2006 Best American Science and Nature Writing anthology published by Houghton Mifflin and edited by Brian Greene.

Scientists who contributed to the magazine include: James D. Watson, Freeman Dyson, Lisa Randall, Martin Rees, Steven Pinker, E.O.

JoYS shared Seed's focus on the roles of science in many aspects of society, as well as its emphasis on design.

"[4] High fashion also permeated the magazine's advertising, which included "Hugo Boss, Kaluha [sic], Evian, Club Monaco, Absolut Citron, Kenzo, [and] Skechers" in the first issue;[4] The Christian Science Monitor described the juxtaposition of the graphic design as "often making it difficult to tell where the journalism ends and the sales pitches begin".