School of Joy
Concept, identity, website, art direction, social
Strategy + direction Ali LaBelle Creative
Graphic design Maddy Nye
development Steven Carr
School of Joy is an educational platform helmed by design researcher Ingrid Fetell Lee (Joyful, The Aesthetics of Joy). It is the home of workshops, exercises, and content to help its students learn about joy and how to find it. SOJ’s core belief is that joy is not frivolous or unimportant — it’s an essential part of life that we must build for ourselves.
We designed the School of Joy experience to feel unapologetically vibrant and intentionally bold. From their website to the course materials and the Instagram feed to their newsletter, the commitment to taking joy seriously never fades.
There’s really no one like Ali. Her unique approach to creating brands has a kind of alchemy to it: she manages to take your aspirations and ideas and transform them into something completely unexpected yet perfectly natural.
When we started the branding work for School of Joy, I had many ideas that I wasn’t sure could work together, but Ali was able to weave them into a beautiful, coherent story. Ali pulls from diverse references, from art to vintage fashion to popular culture, creating a compelling vision that feels elevated and differentiated. Our new brand honestly feels like a work of art to me. It breaks rules and is way more fun than a typical brand, but also has a clear, underlying system that will allow us to maintain and evolve it as we grow.
And while the brand is fun, it’s also been good for business. We’ve seen shares of our social posts skyrocket and conversions increase significantly.
— Ingrid Fetell Lee, founder, School of Joy
