Daniela Muntyan Desk Setup — Workspaces #548

Daniela Muntyan is a product designer at Figma, where she is part of the Expressive Design team working on Figma Motion. Originally from Ukraine, she moved to London in 2022.

She studied art and design and began her career as a graphic designer before moving into product design. In recent years her focus has been on building design tools. Before Figma she designed editor features at Craft, an app for writing and organizing notes.

Alongside her day job she loves building her own things. She created Token Master, a Figma plugin for managing design tokens and dark mode, and Mia Calendar, a calendar widget for FigJam. She is also the co-creator of Scribe, a voice memo app for capturing and organizing thoughts, and she designed and built Biscuit Camera, an experimental iOS camera app that puts composition and framing first.

Follow Daniela on LinkedIn, Twitter and at danielamuntyan.com.

What is the most recent item that you’ve added to your workspace?

An Apple Studio Display and a little IKEA clock. Two very different purchases, but I’m really happy with both! The clock sits just below my monitor. I like keeping my desktop completely clear, even hiding the menu bar, so I don’t usually see the time while I’m working. Having a separate clock lets me keep track of it at a glance without interrupting what I’m doing. It’s such a simple thing, but it’s made a surprising difference.

The office under a rain-flecked skylight, with a white Herman Miller Sayl chair pulled up to a white standing desk and the Studio Display lit against the wall. — The setup sits directly under a skylight.

You recently upgraded to an Apple Studio Display. What went into this decision?

For most of my career, I worked directly from a 13-inch MacBook. I loved being able to work from anywhere, and I still do. But as I started switching more often between Figma, Cursor, Codex and my own projects, that small screen began to feel limiting. I wanted more room to work and something that felt more comfortable for my eyes. The Studio Display has made a big difference. I still love the freedom of a laptop-only setup, but I’m happy with what I’ve gained at my desk. Reducing glare was also important to me, with so much natural light coming into this room.

The desk seen from behind the chair, looking across to a green wall with a pinboard of photographs and prints above a white bookcase. — Looking across the room from the desk.

Would you recommend the Herman Miller Sayl chair? How did you land on this for your setup?

Absolutely. It’s been really comfortable for my back, which is the biggest reason it works so well for me. Honestly, it’s part of what makes it hard to leave my home setup and go into the office! I now have three of them around the house, covering pretty much every spot where I might end up working. So yes, I’m quite committed to this chair at this point.

A close view of the monitor stand with a pink and a white lucky cat, a glass skull and a digital clock reading 10:19, beside a Magic Keyboard and a Ghibli mug. — The IKEA clock sits under the monitor, beside the lucky cats.

What is one change you’d like to make to your current workspace?

I’m pretty happy with the setup at the moment. I’d like to organise my inspiration boards a little better, and I’ve been meaning to replace the IKEA lamp I got from a friend. It was supposed to be temporary, but apparently nothing is more permanent than a temporary lamp from a friend!

The desk from the side with silver headphones, a desktop DAC on a short stack of books, the Studio Display, a digital clock and two lucky cats beside the keyboard. — Headphones and a short stack of books at the left edge of the desk.

What’s the most underrated app or tool you use every day?

FontLab. Type design is a hobby of mine, and I spend quite a bit of time in it. I think font editors are an overlooked corner of design software. There’s so much to learn from how they handle curves, spacing and precision. Working in one gives me a different perspective on the vector tools I use elsewhere.

A small whiteboard covered in boxy sketches, with colored markers and a yellow eraser resting on it, a mug in the foreground and a tripod behind. — The small whiteboard she sketches ideas on.

You mentioned wanting your workspace to feel like a mix of a design studio and a home. Do you feel that you’ve accomplished that?

I think so! It feels like a place where I can focus, be creative and also relax. Having books, art, materials and little objects around me helps it feel personal. There’s always something I could change. Sometimes I imagine adding a nicer pouffe or upgrading the bookshelves, but overall, I feel really good about the space. It supports the way I like to work and gives me room to explore ideas.