> Skip to content
Play sample
  • Published: 20 July 2021
  • ISBN: 9781846045400
  • Imprint: Rider
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $22.99

Joyful

The surprising power of ordinary things to create extraordinary happiness




A perspective-shifting book on the link between happiness and environment from renowned designer and entrepreneur.

'This book has the power to change everything' Susan Cain, author of Quiet

In this groundbreaking book, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explores how making small changes to your surroundings can create extraordinary happiness in your life. Drawing on insights from neuroscience and psychology, she reveals how the seemingly mundane spaces and objects we interact with every day have surprising effects on our mood and how we can harness the power of our environment to live fuller, healthier and more joyful lives.

'An inexhaustible and exciting guide to what makes life good' Arianna Huffington

'This mesmerizing book will open your eyes to all the places where joy is hiding in plain sight' Adam Grant, bestselling author of Think Again

  • Published: 20 July 2021
  • ISBN: 9781846045400
  • Imprint: Rider
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

Ingrid Fetell Lee

Ingrid Fetell Lee is a designer and the founder of the blog The Aesthetics of Joy. She has been featured as an expert on design and joy by outlets such as the New York Times, Wired and Fast Company, and her 2018 TED talk received a standing ovation. Lee was formerly Design Director at global innovation firm IDEO and was a founding faculty member in the Products of Design programme at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She holds an MA in Industrial Design from Pratt Institute and a BA in English and Creative Writing from Princeton University. www.aestheticsofjoy.com

Praise for Joyful

A completely original treatment of a completely new and original idea: we all have within the power to design joy into our lives. Joyful is an inexhaustible and exciting guide to what makes life good

- Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO, Thrive Global; Founder, The Huffington Post

Joy is the most basic building block of happiness, and this mesmerizing book reveals where to find it—and how to create it. Ingrid Fetell Lee’s blockbuster debut will open your eyes to all the places where joy is hiding in plain sight. Warning: reading this book may cause unexpected bouts of joy.

Adam Grant, New York Times bestselling author of ORIGINALS, GIVE AND TAKE, and OPTION B with Sheryl Sandberg

Joyful overturns conventional wisdom about happiness: that it comes from within, and that experiences--not things--make us happier. Ingrid Fetell Lee's delightful book evokes the same positive feelings she describes. It is full of whimsy, wonder, energy, and joy. I loved it.

Sonja Lyubomirsky, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, and author of The How of Happiness

Joyful is a delightful book with a powerful message: joy is easy to find if you know where to look. In JOYFUL, designer Ingrid Fetell Lee explains why some experiences are laden with joy, explores how we can cultivate these experiences every day, and shows us how to identify the most joy-inspiring people, places, and objects in our lives

Adam Alter, Professor of Marketing, NYU, and author of Irresistible

This book has the power to change everything. Writing with depth, wit, and insight, Ingrid Fetell Lee shares all you need to know in order to create external environments that give rise to inner joy.

Susan Cain, author of QUIET and founder of Quiet Revolution

Joyful reveals the powerful notion that joy can be cultivated to flourish within all of us. This idea can change the world.

David Kelley, founder of the design and innovation company IDEO

Joyful is an invaluable field guide to discovering delight in all its forms. It's hard to look at the world - and your place in it - quite the same way again

Bianca Bosker, New York Times bestselling author of Cork Dork

A tender and moving book about one of our most important feelings - joy

Johann Hari, New York Times bestselling author of Lost Connections

A tender and moving book about one of our most important feelings -- joy

Johann Hari, The New York Times bestselling author of Lost Connections