The Aesthetics of Joy is devoted to a simple, powerful idea: that our greatest source of joy is the world around us.

An emerging body of research shows a clear link between our surroundings and our mental health. Yet nearly all the advice on how to find happiness ignores this fact. Designer Ingrid Fetell Lee founded The Aesthetics of Joy in 2009 to shed light on the relationship between our environment and our emotions, and share inspiration and resources for living a more joyful life through design.

In September, 2018, Little, Brown Spark published Joyful, the definitive guide to finding and creating more joy in the world around you. Check it out here!

Our Mission

Everyone deserves joy. We're devoted to bringing joy into the places we live and work, learn and heal. Here's what we believe and some of our most important posts, to give an idea of what we're all about. If you're new here, this is a great place to start!



About Ingrid

Ingrid Fetell Lee

Founder and Author

Ingrid Fetell Lee is a designer and author whose groundbreaking work reveals the hidden influence of our surroundings on our emotions and wellbeing. As a former design director at IDEO, author of Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness, and the founder of the website The Aesthetics of Joy, she empowers people to find more joy in life and work through design. Her immensely popular TED talk “Where Joy Hides and How to Find it” has been viewed more than 17 million times.

Lee has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Wired, Real Simple, The Atlantic, the Today Show, HGTV Magazine, and Fast Company. She has over fifteen years of experience in design and branding, having led design programs for Target, Condé Nast, Eileen Fisher, American Express, Kate Spade, Diageo, Pepsico, and the US government, among others. She was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her design work has been exhibited at imm Cologne, Germany.

Lee holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University. She loves pancakes, polka dots, and rainbow sprinkles, and has an extensive repertoire of happy dances for any occasion.

Work with Us

Workshops

Ingrid hosts workshops on topics such as joy and well-being, creating joy at work, designing joyful spaces and experiences, and cultivating joy at home. She also creates custom workshops based on the aesthetics of joy tailored to specific organizations.

Speaking

Ingrid gives regular keynotes on joy-related topics, including the benefits of joy for individuals and organizations, the secrets of universally joyful products, building a joyful culture, and creating environments that help people thrive.

Partnerships

Interested in a joyful partnership? We do a limited set of design and curation collaborations with companies each year. If you're wondering if we might be a fit to work together, send our team a note!

Contact Us

For inquiries about media, speaking, partnerships, or anything else, please email us HERE.

In the News

Real Simple: 4 Secrets for Designing a More Joyful Space
TED Radio Hour: How Can We Design More Joy into Our Surroundings?
The Today Show: How to Get Going on Creative Projects and Hobbies
The goop Podcast: Finding Joy Again
Young House Love: Can Science Help Us Make Our Homes Happier?
The Atlantic: The Infrastructure of Joy
The Today Show: 5 Simple Tips to Find Joy Every Day
ELLE: The 29 Best Books of 2018
The New York Times: Are We Living in a Post-Happiness World?
Design Matters: Live with Debbie Millman and Ingrid Fetell Lee
The Guardian: Ode to Joy
The Next Big Idea Club Podcast: Joyful
Food52: How to Design Joy Into Your Home
TechCrunch: Favorite Things of 2018
HGTV: The Simple Design Hacks Will Make Your Home a Happier Place
goop: How to Rediscover Joy – and Eliminate Killjoys
Real Simple: Happy Home, Happy Life
Architectural Digest: How to Create Joy in a Crisis
Inc: The 10 Most Inspiring Books of 2018
Simplify Podcast: Make Your Own Joy
The Aspen Institute: Joy is a Form of Resilience
Clever Podcast: Designer of Joy Ingrid Fetell Lee
goop: Forget Happiness – Pursue Joy
Young House Love: Maximizing House Joy (For Minimal Money)
The Next Big Idea Club Podcast: On Finding Joy in Simple Pleasures
Teen Vogue: There’s a Scientific Reason Kendall Jenner Loves Polka Dots so Much
Lit Up: Ingrid Fetell Lee and The Aesthetics of Joy
Fast Company: 9 Books Designers Should Read in 2019
MindBodyGreen: The One Question That Helped Me Declutter My Closet
Bulletproof Radio: Hacking Joy by Changing the World Around You
White City Place: Joyful Design with Morag Myerscough and Ingrid Fetell Lee
Book Riot: On Joyful
The Reboot Podcast: Hardwired for Joy
Monocle Radio: Weekend Read
What's killing your joy? Take this 3-minute quiz to find out.
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