There’s this small moment most people know: you open your mailbox, and between bills and ads there’s suddenly something that stands out. A real greeting card. Not a flyer, not cheap paper.
You pick it up, turn it in your hands, and immediately notice. it feels different. Wood instead of paper. And then it clicks: it’s a card, a small gift, and a puzzle all in one.
A genuine surprise.
You take a closer look, read the message, spot the instructions, start playing with it, putting the pieces together and before you know it, it’s turned into a small object that brings real joy… and a smile to your face.
Those are exactly the moments we create our products for.
- An Idea That simply Wanted to Grow
It all started in Berlin in 2009. Nick Rübesamen and Henrike Mayer - a team of two with a simple belief: cards can be more. They don’t have to sit flat on a fridge or disappear into a drawer. They can become three-dimensional. They can take up space. They can last.
That idea became formes Berlin - a family business still rooted in Berlin-Kreuzberg today. In a historic factory complex where machines once roared, our laser now hums its way through thin sheets of birch wood. Millimeter by millimeter. With patience.
📸 [Photo of the atelier in Berlin-Kreuzberg – tools, wood sheets, warm workshop lighting]
- "From Flat to Spatial" — Our Philosophy in Four Words
When you look at our products — the 3D puzzle wooden greeting cards, the pop-up cards, the embossed paper cards, the wooden glasses cases — one thing becomes immediately clear: everything has depth. Literally.
"From flat to spatial" is not just a design principle for us. It's an attitude. We believe that a gift you can touch, take apart, build, and display means more than a digital message swiped away in three seconds.
Our 3D puzzle cards, for example, are greeting card, craft kit, and décor object all in one. The laser-cut wooden pieces sit precisely within the card — paper-thin but sturdy. When you pop them out and assemble them, a little artwork is born. A butterfly. A bee. A dragonfly. A penguin. Something that sits on a desk and reminds you every day: someone was thinking of you.
- Made in Berlin. Really.
We say "Made in Germany" — and we mean it.
From the first sketch to the laser cut to the finished packaged product, almost everything happens in our workshop at Oranienstraße 183 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. What we can't handle ourselves, we put in good hands: we work with USE gGmbH, a supported employment workshop for people with disabilities, who carefully process our puzzle elements. We're proud of that.
📸 [Close-up of laser cutting a wooden card – the fine detail of workshop craftsmanship]
- Sustainability Is Not a Marketing Word for Us
Our packaging is made from bioplastic film (PLA), not conventional plastic. The cedar veneer and birch wood used in our cards comes from certified, sustainably managed forests. Our handmade deckle-edge paper cards are crafted from textile offcuts — no tree has to fall for them.
That might sound like it should be standard. It isn't. It's a conscious choice, every single day.
- What Really Drives Us
Sometimes people ask us: "Why greeting cards? Why wood? Why Berlin?"
The honest answer? Because we believe the world could use a little more craft. Because we believe that analogue gestures — sending a card, writing a message, building something with your hands — create connections that no app can replace. And because Berlin-Kreuzberg is exactly the right place for things that are a little different.
We're not a big factory. We're Nick and Henrike, with a small, close team and a big passion for beautiful, meaningful things.
📸 [A finished greeting card with envelope on a wooden table — warm, inviting, alive]
- What You Can Expect on This Blog
Over the coming months, you'll read a lot here: about the stories behind our motifs, the symbolism of the butterfly and the anchor, why handmade deckle-edge paper is the most luxurious thing you can send someone, and ideas for how to use our cards at weddings, birthdays, Easter — or just because.
We're glad you're here.
Warm greetings from Berlin-Kreuzberg,
Nick, Henrike & the formes team
Discover our wooden cards → Wooden cards
Browse our Cases & Bags collection → Cases and Bags
formes Berlin GbR | Oranienstraße 183, 10999 Berlin | www.formes-berlin.com
