StartNext: 7 Questions with Daniel Schneider of Black Roses Playing Cards

The Black Roses Playing Cards is an elegant deck of cards that links classic design with modern elements. Meticulously created by Daniel Schneider, this deck is fully custom and features new faces on the court cards. Unlike other crowd-funded playing card projects featured on Kardify, Black Roses was launch on Startnext.de, a popular German crowd-funding platform.

We managed to have a quick chat with Daniel about his background, the inspiration and the design evolution of Black Roses, and his thought on the playing card community.

Can you tell us about yourself and what is your creative background?
I've started with magic very late. Back in 2009 I saw this guy on german television in his own show "Street Magic with Farid". Ever since then I have a passion for magic and since I've discovered Dan and Dave, I'm a total playing card fanatic.

I've studied web design but graphic design is what I'm actually doing most of the time.

This is your first Crowd-Funded Project. Why Startnext.de?
As I'm from Germany it was simply obvious to start my crowdfunding on Startnext because the communication is very easy there. The community isn't as big as the community on Kickstarter, but I don't think that this is a disadvantage. You have to thrill the supporter beyond the platform anyway.

What is your inspiration behind the Black Roses Playing Cards? How did you come up with the idea?
I simply missed a deck of cards which shows my own personality. The idea of drawing new faces on classic playing cards is not really mine, for example David Blaine and Daniel Madison did that before and their decks have been an inspiration to me.

In the beginning I only wanted to replace the faces so I don't loose the classic look. But with time, the card got more fancy like the Queen of Hearts with the long blond hair or the King of Hearts with the hoody. Nevertheless, I think I managed it that the cards have not lost their classic look with modern faces.

The "Bicycle Rider Backs" and "Bicycle Leaf Backs" inspired me to draw my own Black Roses back design. The result is something completely new, but still exactly what I wanted- a classic playing card deck. The color black because it is unique and classy.

How much time did you spend working on the deck and can you briefly go through the design evolution of one of your unique card design?
I can't say anymore how long I've needed to complete the deck... I think 6-8 weeks with a few breaks in between. First I remove the face from the original court card. I look for a suitable photo and trace the outlines of the face. Everything happens on the computer. The eyes are the most striking and most difficult thing to draw. When I have all the outlines I place them over the court card. Finally, I color the hair etc... if necessary.

We initially noticed the Black Roses Playing Cards on Instagram. What do you think of the magic/playing card community on Instagram in terms of the feedback and support that you’ve been getting?
I haven't received so much feedback like I wish I had, but what I've heard was very positive and I'm very pleased to hear that because I know that they are really honest. There are almost always the same people who likes my photos and I noticed that of course.

What are your thoughts about the continuous strong growth of playing card projects?
Before I started to design my own deck, I never realized how many people creating there own decks. When I look at the statistics I haven't chosen a good month! :D But I guess that is a good thing. Crowdfunding makes it so much easier for people to realize their ideas due to the number of playing cards in the market now... you can easily lose track, but good things will catch on.

Finally, what are your favourite playing card decks?
I love the Bee Erdnase Deck and the 1st Split Spades. The finish is awesome. I also love the simplicity of the Smoke and Mirrors (V4-V6), Rounders and Nocs.

Awesome! Thanks again for your time Daniel and all the best!


Pledge for Black Roses starts from 8€ and it is currently 21% funded. Don't miss out as this is only available for a limited time on StartNext.de.