Minimal Desk Setup with Slat Wall Panels in Bucharest, Romania

Name: Calin Balea

Location: Bucharest, Romania

Occupation: UI, UX, and Brand Designer

Room size: 12 m² (129 ft²)

Cost of setup: ~$4K (not accounting for room decoration. That was done as part of the design of my entire apartment, so it’s hard to isolate.)

Social media: Twitter

Hello! Tell us a bit about yourself

I’m a digital designer with over ten years of experience.

For the past six years, I’ve been working remotely for clients from the US and Europe. Recently I founded a design studio — contrast.studio.

I’m self-taught.

I studied finance in college but never practiced.

I started playing around with Photoshop in high school and got more into it when I wanted to create marketing materials for a side hustle when I was about twenty.

It snowballed from there. After I graduated, the first real job I landed was at an advertising agency in my hometown (Timișoara, Romania), and the rest is history.

Right now, my main goal is to expand my studio business and assist even more founders in creating engaging and user-friendly products.

I’m currently collaborating with two companies and hoping to partner with 2-3 more in the nearest future. To maintain a high standard of excellence, I am keeping the number of client seats limited.

Follow my journey on LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram, where I share my work and advice on how to design better interfaces and brand identities.

Take us through your setup

I created my home office to increase productivity and work for long hours without distractions.

A crucial factor was having a well-lit room without glare on my screens caused by natural light.