

Ingrid Fetell Lee takes a close look at how the simple pleasures in life (such as bringing joy to a room) ultimately transform lives. Ever look around a doctor's office, a school hallway, the dentist lobby, and think, something is missing here? We should spend it all, at every chance we get. We should manage joy in the exact opposite way that we manage money. She loves pancakes, polka dots, and rainbow sprinkles, and has an extensive repertoire of happy dances for any occasion. Her first book, Joyful, will be published in North America by Little, Brown in September, 2018. Ingrid holds a Master’s in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a Bachelor’s in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University. Her design work has been exhibited at imm Cologne, Germany. She was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as The New York Times, Wired, PRI's Studio 360, CBC's Spark, Psychology Today, and Fast Company. Ingrid has over twelve years of experience in design and branding, most recently as Design Director of IDEO's New York office, having led design work for Target, Condé Nast, Eileen Fisher, American Express, Kate Spade, Diageo, Pepsico, and the US government, among others. As founder of The Aesthetics of Joy and in her role as IDEO fellow, she empowers people to find more joy in daily life through design. Ingrid Fetell Lee is a Brooklyn-based designer and writer whose work focuses on the way that design affects our health and happiness.

Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she explains why one setting makes us feel anxious or competitive while another fosters acceptance and delight-and, most importantly, she reveals how we can harness the power of our surroundings to live fuller, healthier, and truly joyful lives. In Joyful, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising and powerful effects on our mood.


But what if the natural vibrancy of our surroundings is actually our most renewable and easily accessible source of joy? Increasingly, experts urge us to find balance and calm by looking inward-through mindfulness or meditation-and muting the outside world. We are often made to feel that the physical world has little or no impact on our inner joy. Have you ever wondered why we stop to watch the orange glow that arrives before sunset or why we flock to see cherry blossoms bloom in spring? Is there a reason that people-regardless of gender, age, culture, or ethnicity-are mesmerized by baby animals and can't help but smile when they see a burst of confetti or a cluster of colorful balloons?
