About Miriam Ortwed

Hi, I’m Miriam — designer, artist, and lover of soft textures and quiet ideas.
I live and work in Copenhagen, where I spend my days drawing patterns, testing papers, photographing tiny scenes, and chasing that perfect moment when color, form, and feeling click into place.

I’ve always been drawn to the in-between — the space where structure meets softness, where design becomes a little bit story, a little bit touch, a little bit calm.
My work lives somewhere between surface design, illustration, and play — exploring how patterns and materials can shape the way we feel in a space.

I’m the founder of Softform Studio, a creative brand focused on pattern, mindfulness, and slow design — from wallpaper and fabric to embroidery, stationery, and miniature paper worlds.
It’s my way of making calm tangible — through pattern, texture, and moments of quiet making.

Here on ortwed.com, you’ll find my broader creative projects: design experiments, collaboration work, and glimpses into the process that connects them all.
It’s a mix of the serious and the silly, the precise and the playful — a reflection of how I like to work: with curiosity, care, and the occasional cup of tea gone cold.

Thanks for being here — I hope what you find feels soft, a little surprising, and maybe even a bit like coming home.

  • Pragmatic, optimistic and all-round creative.

    An ambivert (both extrovert and introvert), which means I get energy from being around people, but also need time to recharge on my own.

  • I’m funny, helpful and will support them in whatever they want to do or pursue.

    They’ll also tell you that I can do anything and everything, like a Pippi Longstocking type:

    “I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.”

    -Astrid Lindgren

    • I love K-drama and South Korean culture. I went on a few school trips as a design teacher to Seoul and I’ve been hooked ever since.

    • I spend 5 minutes every day on Duolingo learning languages. These days it either Korean or Polish.

    • When I was younger I took fencing classes and had a fling with capoeira. These days it’s the gym, reformer pilates and yoga.

    • I cut my own hair…just because I can.

    • I have a bachelor in nursing, but I didn’t end up using my nursing degree. It did help me mature and realize what a lot of my strengths and vulnerabilities are. And it turned out to be my ticket straight into design school.

The journey so far…

When I was a child, I would make paper dolls, sew and build things for my barbie dolls, make flower wreaths and much more. Anything I could do that involved my hands creating something. I loved to paint and draw. I remember once, when I was around 10 years old, I drew vampire mermaids (I know, innovative right?) which turned out to be my first non-paid commission project, when my classmates suddenly asked me to draw them some too. That popularity lasted one or two days, but still.

My grandparents were my the main protagonists and supporters of my creative endeavors. Especially my grandmother. She would let me play with her box of buttons and fabrics and teach me how to sew, knit and crochet. She would make homemade salt dough for me to create figures with and my grandfather would mount them on wooden plaques and hang them on the wall.

Childhood Creativity & Grandma

At the age of 19, I tried getting into designschool, but I had no clue of what I was doing, so after the rejection letter I decided to go live with my then boyfriend Munich. From there I started nursing school in Denmark so it was a lot of back and forth between the two countries. In the end I ended up, horizons widened, leaving Germany behind to finish my nursing degree. But during the last couple of semesters could feel that I would burn out quickly in that line of work.

The suppressed creative side was eating me up inside, so I had my first big soul search, ended up taking the admission test to designschool again and got straight in. Turns out I had matured by then and developed quite a few observational and ideation skills through nursing school.

Munich Years & Nursing School

Soap Bubble Queen & Multi-Designer

To support myself through yet another bachelor and a master degree, I landed the best student job ever at a science museum called Experimentarium. That would add soap bubble queen and later exhibition designer to the resume.

At Design School I had the opportunity to try out other disciplines than industrial design, which was my entry point. I did all I could to soak up as much as I could during those 5 years. It resulted in me knitting a chair with giant knitting needles, making soft wooden pillows, creating a forest theme for a cupcake café, and a lot of other random fun projects. I discovered my joy of play and curiosity. And above all, learning new crafts and techniques. But at first I didn’t know what I would use it all for. The chaos of not having just one focus wasn’t in tune with my pragmatic side and I didn’t know how to “sell” myself, not fitting in to any box in the design field.

Teacher & Pattern Play

I tried my hand at many things to get where I am today. For years I had a side hustle as a maker, creating things on my lasercutter. I took on many different design opportunities that came my way, working for others doing packaging, interior design, furniture, etc. At one point I ended up in teaching design and creativity and I’ve stayed in that realm, going on 10 years now.

Now the journey has transitioned into surface pattern design while maintaining my desire to help others get in touch with their creative side in more tactile crafts. I embrace my multifaceted creativity and try to always keep at least one foot out of the box.