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Family Matters by Noa Dotan

Noa Dotan is a recent graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design whose final project explores family and healing.

Family Matters is a family of toys for family therapy. Born from her love of toys and inspired by the need for 3D objects in the professional therapy environment, Family Matters is a series of relate-able objects for both therapists and patients.

Noa explains that the toys can be incorporated into therapy at three different levels:

1) The family experience; The family is introduces to the characters who allow, by projecting, a beginning of a conversation and an open dialoged where one does not exist, creating family interaction and connections.

2) The individual experience; Each family member can choose his own personal character and give it its own Identity. Validating the owner’s autonomy and place.

3) The individual’s inner world; Using the character’s “inner organs” to describe its owner’s full range of emotions, that he or she might not be able to put into words.

In designing the characters, Noa made sure that they were vague and abstract, but yet still were recognizable as animals. The colors are vibrant and neutral with different textures to help convey specific emotions.

Jaime Derringer, Founder + Executive Editor of Design Milk, is a Jersey girl living in SoCal. She dreams about funky, artistic jewelry + having enough free time to enjoy some of her favorite things—running, reading, making music, and drawing.