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!

Every human being has the capacity for joy.

Joy is a universal human emotion. Whether you feel joy every day or you haven't felt it in awhile, you can reconnect with it at any time.

Joy is something we can create.

While joy is often seen as something we have to stumble upon, in fact there are practical steps anyone can take to create more joy in daily life, and share it with others.

Joy can change the world.

Joy is often thought of as a nice-to-have, rather than a necessity. But study after study shows that joy makes us healthier, more productive, creative, and resilient.

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

Learn more

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.

Learn more

Request availability

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.

Request availability

Reach out

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!

Reach out