Possible theming optimization?

My coworker made some mock-ups, that I'd like to share with you. IMHO the current look is a little bit ugly and could easily be optimized and the mock-up looks much better with just some minor tweaks.

1) If letters contain descenders like "t" or "g" the lower part of the letter is cut off in the label.
2) The label would look better if it was centered under the icon
3) Instead of the somewhat old-fashioned looking rounded black border, it would look much more modern if there was a light-gray background with no rounded corners and then a white background behind the icon with rounded cordners