📸 [A flat wooden card of cat - placed next to the fully assembled 3D figure]
Sometimes a great idea needs just one sentence.
- Ours is: "Cards are too good for the fridge."
That might sound a little provocative. But anyone who has held one of our wooden cards will immediately understand what we mean. Because what looks like an ordinary greeting card is actually a small craft kit, a décor object, and a personal message - all in one. Shipped flat. Experienced in three dimensions.
But how does something like this actually come to life? And why does it matter?
- It All Starts With a Sketch
Before a single wooden panel meets the laser, there's drawing. Nick and Henrike, the founders of formes Berlin, develop every motif themselves - from the first pencil line to the final design.
Every motif has to meet several requirements at once: it needs to look beautiful as a flat card. It needs to feel intuitive when assembled. It needs to be stable and decorative as a finished object. And it needs to tell a story - whether that's a butterfly, an anchor, a bee, or a Christmas star.
Sounds straightforward. It isn't.
📸 [Sketches or design drawings on paper - tools, pencils, early ideas visible on a workbench]
- Then Comes the Laser
In our workshop in Berlin-Kreuzberg - a factory complex at Oranienstraße 183 - a precision laser cuts each motif from 1mm birch plywood. The wood is paper-thin, almost like thick card stock, yet surprisingly sturdy.
The laser doesn't just cut. It traces the exact contours of each motif, leaving the individual pieces connected to the card by hair-thin bridges - nearly invisible, but strong enough to hold everything together until the card is opened.
The result: a card that is completely flat, yet already carries everything it needs to become three-dimensional.
📸 [Close-up of the laser cutting - the fine lines in the wood, warm workshop light]
- Handwork You Can Feel
After the laser cut, handwork begins. Together with USE gGmbH - a Berlin based supported employment workshop for people with disabilities, with whom we've worked for years - the cards are carefully finished: cleaned, quality-checked, and assembled together with the illustrated guide, writing paper, and envelope.
Every product that leaves formes Berlin is the result of many small, human touches. You feel it when you hold the card. There's a weight, a warmth, a texture that no printer in the world can replicate.
- From Envelope to Object - the Journey of a Card
Here's what happens when someone receives one of our 3D puzzle cards:
- The envelope is opened. - The card already feels different - firmer, warmer. Real wood.
- The design is discovered. - Fine cut lines trace through the printed wood. You recognise the shape - a butterfly, a plane, a rocket.
- The pieces are freed. - With a satisfying little click, the puzzle pieces come loose from the card.
- The guide is unfolded. - Step by step, the object takes shape.
- It stands. - On the desk. On the windowsill. On the bedside table.
And it stays. Weeks. Months. Sometimes years.
📸 [A 4-step image collage - opening the card, freeing the pieces, assembling, finished object displayed]
- Why Any of This Matters
We live in an age where messages travel in seconds. WhatsApp, email, an emoji reaction here, a quick comment there. That's not bad, but it isn't the same.
A card you can touch. A message you read while you build something. An object that reminds you of someone without needing to be framed or pinned up, it just sits there.
This isn't nostalgia. It's a genuine tactile experience that digital communication simply cannot offer.
And that's exactly what we stand for. From flat to spatial - with every single card that leaves our workshop.
We're glad you're here.
Warm greetings from Berlin-Kreuzberg,
Nick, Henrike & the formes team
Explore all 3D puzzle wooden greeting cards → 3D puzzle Wooden cards
Order a card with your custom message → Custom Message
formes Berlin GbR | Oranienstraße 183, 10999 Berlin | www.formes-berlin.com
