Melanie

Credits

About the Frames creator and author

12 Apr 2026 By Melanie

Frames author and designer is Melanie Schleeter. She is a professional in several fields ranging from aerospace to computer technology, with master’s degrees in Geography and Science Communication. She is a trainer, writer, and geographer. Melanie is the national expert on historic 3D relief models and is the author of “A Wilderness of Rocks: the Impact of Relief Models on Data Science” (2015).

Melanie had been given a set of tarot cards as a gift, and she tried them as a tool for reflection—but the imagery and meanings were impossibly difficult to recall. Worst of all, the tarot illustrations meant nothing to her, or to any modern person! What is a hierophant or the 5 of pentacles? How many of us put royalty at the top of the social pyramid or know the historical meaning of a white rose? Surely, there must be a more intuitive and modern way to use allegory! Why not make story cards for concepts we actually know and use now? Why not use the brain’s thirst for new connections and stories to mine the inner data we all have?

Also, whatever mystical force they had seemed to require some kind of intermediary. The idea that a translator was needed to understand yourself was frustrating and at odds with what she knew about the role of neuroscience, psychology, physics, and computer science to understand “being.”

On the Bus in Rochester, 2018

The idea for Frames, as all good ideas, came while riding on the bus home after an intense day at work. Melanie was watching her fellow riders, students of every nationality and age–all looking at their cellphones instead of each other. Each of those students had a purpose for being right there, on that bus, to be colleagues, to move the mystery of their own life one more day forward. On that same ride, Melanie was writing about the history of spiritualism and science in Rochester, the technology hub of early America.

A 2018 Rochester, NY visit came at a time of spiritual searching. Like everyone reading this, she struggled with work problems, self-doubt, divorce, loved ones dying tragically, financial challenges, isolation, regrets, and so on. Adopting a meditation and reflection practice for the last decade helped but still seemed to Melanie that it just wasn’t enough to just “sit.” Action was required.

Our lives are like technology hubs, she thought. It’s science and not mysticism. Each sense, each experience, each thought is stored. Why not combine our natural delight in mystery and synchronicity with our equal love of technology and science? Yes!

Technology and Art + US and UK

Melanie listed all the technology concepts she was familiar with, from data lakes to web user experience. By some cosmic dice roll, she connected with UK artist David Hallangen on Twitter, and he was immediately hired. David is deeply gifted and understood the goal of building visual allegories that would prompt someone to break out of their worn thought patterns and consider new options. Work on the Frames deck was performed in Rochester, Washington DC, Albany, Middletown CT, Philadelphia, Fayetteville NC, Madison, and Chicago. Conversations about the meaning of life, death, science, the soul, work, technology, and art were held with many colleagues. But you know who you are, with thanks. Work was completed in 2019.

Why is it called Frames?

A frame in computer technology is an array (set) of data that has an almost physical dimension. A data frame can gold various types of data, all mixed and ready to interrogate. A frame is also a way to narrow your focus temporarily, to look through and partition off. Thus when doing structured self-reflection or jumpstarting a creative process, it helps to define the focus (the Frames question) but to explore its array of data (inner data source). So many more analogies exist! have fun exploring your inner data.

The Frames card deck and user guide are certain to be a useful tool for anyone committed to understanding their own lives, or thoughtfully helping their work colleagues or loved ones to solve problems. It takes no special skill to use–other than a willingness to face your own inner data and take small, incremental steps forward.

Thanks to Carl Sagan

Melanie is grateful to the estate of Carl Sagan for reviewing the user guide and providing permission to use his quote in the front of the Frames User Guide.

Interpretation: get started with your FRAMES deck!

07 Mar 2026 By Melanie

How to do a frame

07 Mar 2026 By Melanie

QUESTION. Get some quiet time for yourself in a comfortable place without distractions. Think of an unanswered question of importance to you. Choose one without a yes/no answer or that starts with Why, How, or What. Write your question down.

MAKE RANDOM. With the cards face down, do a long shuffle to ensure randomness. Think about your question while you shuffle. Then spread the cards face down in a long row or flat pile.

LAY OUT CARDS. Focus on your question. Pull 1 card and place it face down on the Person position. Do the same for the other 3 frame positions. Then turn them over.

INTERPRET. For each card in the frame, write down the combination of title, force, and position. Does the frame tell a story about your question? Does your intuition agree? Consult the user guide and website for help.

ACTION. Decide on an action based on the entire frame. Track the results.

What is Frames?

07 Mar 2026 By Melanie

Frames is a card deck for insight. Each card contains a visual story, beautifully illustrated with science and technology ideas. When you look at a frame of four random cards, your brain works naturally to unlock your inner data for creative problem-solving and personal insight. Each Frames card is an illustrated idea from technology and science—the global culture we all share. The deck has 36 idea cards and 9 archetype cards.

ART. Each card is a visual allegory—an artwork that tells a story. Each illustration draws from the new universal symbology of science and technology. There are no rules about interpreting the story. Everyone finds unique meaning in a card.

FORCES. The 45 cards are separated into 3 force categories: Physical, Intellectual, and Spiritual. The forces organize the deck into concepts. Including the force when interpreting a frame will help you to visualize trends.

SYMBOLS. Frames uses modern symbols and titles. Old concepts of class (royalty), gender, and ability are not included. The art has layers of meanings and small details that are fun to decode. Over time, one of these details may come into focus for you. Finding new meaning in the art means that you have grown and changed.

Watch live recorded Frames sessions for clients!

28 Aug 2022 By Melanie

News

Frames survey

26 Mar 2020 By Melanie

Thanks for supplying your answers!
All data collected is anonymous and never sold or distributed outside the Frames organization.
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Integrating Frames into your spiritual practice

04 Mar 2019 By Melanie

Questions frequently come in about how to integrate Frames into the person’s existing spiritual or analytic practice. Here’s some suggestions —

Mindfulness and meditation

A sitting practice of mindfulness or meditation has been shown scientifically to reduce stress and increase awareness in your life. Whether you are an weekend sitter, or have a regular habit, Frames can be an interesting new component.

Mallory wrote in that they often have difficulty with quiet sitting meditation, and end up feeling guilty about it. Mallory found that by pulling one Frames card and bringing it with you to your sitting session, it acts as focal spot for your eyes. Sometimes Mallory selects a card out that fits the crazy week, such as Reset, to clear out leftover stress, or sometimes one is pulled at random and used to focus thought on a new idea. Normally, after the initial thoughts have settled down, Mallory will turn the card over and settle into breathing.

Journaling and Reflection

Karen writes that her Sunday morning routine includes some strong coffee, turning off electronic devices, and journaling about the week gone by. Her journals sometimes turned into a rant session, she found, and by pulling out one or two Frames cards and placing them near (but not in the way of the coffee!) she can write significantly deeper reflections. Sometimes, she shuffles and gets two cards at random, but other times she looks through them all and selects one or two that fit what she wants to write about. “The card details are so interesting,” she says, “and always give me new ways to reflect on issues in my journals.”

Ministry and community practice

Jeremiah is a youth leader at his local church and with the Boy Scouts in Denver. Having survived a tumultuous childhood and spent 20 years searching for his own purpose with drugs, alcohol, and under-employment, Jeremiah emerged with a son of his own. He became committed to stopping that cycle in his community. When he came across Frames, he was interested in using it as a prompt for conversations with some really tough kids. “It’s so hard to strike up a meaningful conversation with some of these kids,” he says. “They avoid anything resembling emotional pain and just turn away from it. But they do want to talk.” So he let one withdrawn kid at his church shuffle and pull out one card. It was Sensor. Jeremiah laid it on the table and asked the boy to tell a story about it, maybe how it was like himself. Having the tree and the sensor illustration was a neutral way to deflect that embarrassing eye contact and too much reveal at once. He kept the session short. They eventually started to have a rapport and trust. “Nothing changes overnight,” says Jeremiah, “you’re a fool if you think it does. But every so often, over time, you can see something change. And that’s enough to get started.”

What’s in the User Guide?

26 Feb 2019 By Melanie

The User Guide for the Frames deck contains 45 summaries, one for each card, along with background and science behind how the deck works for insight.

See example page below —

The User Guide summary of a card is not the definitive interpretation of a card! It’s simply a way to get you started so you can find your own unique meaning in each beautiful artwork.

Each card page has:

Title
Force
Keywords
Summary
Interpretation Help
How cards interact with each other

The Idea cards

10 Feb 2019 By Melanie

The Frames deck contains 36 Idea cards based on modern concepts and terms. If Archetype cards are a year, then an Idea card is a day. An Idea card correlates with the detailed actions, events, and people in your life. Each Idea cards has a user guide page with keywords, summary, and starter help. Build on this for your own meaning. Each Force has 12 Idea cards.

Idea cards help you focus on smaller amounts of inner data, recent events, or new patterns. As you consider or meditate on an Idea card, think about the similarities between the illustration title and your question. Ask: in what way am I (or this situation) like or not like [the card title]? For example, if your question is about a health issue, the Hub card may confirm your intuition that your care is not well-rounded or spark new thoughts about caregivers being more connected.

Some Idea cards are closely aligned with Archetype cards. For example, the Security idea card and The Hacker archetype card have aligned concepts, or the Map card with The Traveler. Aligned cards within a frame should direct your focus there first.

The Forces

10 Feb 2019 By Melanie

The force—physical, intellectual, or spiritual—is shown in the card background. Forces tie different cards together into larger concepts or themes.

The Physical force cards have backgrounds with earth elements. Physical forces are what you feel inside a storm or from a mountain-top, during birth or death, or in a handshake or hug.

The Intellectual force cards have backgrounds showing things built with human brainpower, social organization, and handcraft. Backgrounds will show technology, structures, or writing. Inclusion of physical and spiritual forces may appear because this force bridges the other two.

The Spiritual force cards feature sky and space as their backgrounds. ‘Spiritual’ does not mean organized religion. It means a permeability to the universal impulses of love, ethical behavior, compassion, and your purpose in life.