Kerning from the best — 5 minutes with Florin Diaconu

Published in

8px Magazine

4 min readAug 23, 2019

Kerning From the Best is an article series where I’m having quick chats with remote designers from around the world to learn more about what makes them tick.

This month’s edition features Florin Diaconu, a designer based in the North of England. Florin works remotely for a company based on the East Coast of the United States, allowing him to work on a schedule that fits his own time.

Enjoy.

What does a typical morning look like for you?

My mornings are simple and quiet. I like it quiet in the morning.
I am like a diesel engine, start slow but never stop!. Coffee is a must, then I jump on doing personal design things until around 12 UK time when I start work. I work EST time so start 12 finish around 8pm UK time.
After the daily huddle with the team, I proceed with my tasks or other daily meetings. I break often and short, to stretch and have a bite.
Recently I started doing HIIT exercises to keep in shape.
Music is always on, it keeps me focused.

How did you arrive here?

Design is something I always loved, and with my dad being a photographer, I think helped me a lot developing an eye for detail and following this path.
I graduated Graphic Communications at Leeds in 2010; didn’t learn a thing.
Then I kind of picked up things myself or from other people I worked with, but I do have a Bachelor diploma if anyone is interested.
Started working for different companies (design agencies and tech) along the years. About 2 and a half years ago I started to work remotely for Mango Languages, and really changed my life style and the perception of working in an office strictly 9 to 5.

What do you find yourself having to repeatedly convince others of?

Being considerate! I think in today’s society a lot of people don’t care about a thing but themselves and some not even that.
Being considerate is a very important thing in society in my opinion and it translates everywhere really. In design, collaborating with other designers, giving and receiving feedback.
There is plenty of space on this planet for everyone so I think we need to be more considerate and less ignorant.

Do you have a mantra?

If I’d have to chose one would be “always aim higher.”

Where do you want to go?

I want to become a creative director in the near future, learn more code (for animation purposes), and I’d really love to go anywhere if we are talking visiting a place or a country.

Who do you look up to?

I look up to many people and designers who are talented and probably most of them better than me. I can name a few:
Tobias van Schneider (for his achievements in design coming from nothing really and learning everything himself).
Fantasy (the company) for the amazing concepts they put together and the way they approach problems.
Stefan Sagmeister, the last design emperor as I like to call him.
And the one and only Zlatan Ibrahimovic (for his courage and confidence).

What’s your remote setup?

I like to keep it simple.
Macbook pro (the one with the shit keyboard hence you will see a proper keyboard on my desk as well), LG 4k monitor (the 5K one from apple is overpriced), Herman Miller Sayl chair (the best chairs on the market), some Philips Hue and LIFX lights and a 2.1 Harman Kardon Sounsticks II speaker system.
I also have some stuff on my desk — a Dieter Rams design principles original poster (I backed his documentary movie on Kickstarter) and of course my flamingo neon because flamingos are cool.

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