Neil
Renicker
Neil Renicker is currently a Designer, Developer and Writer at Sparkbox in Dayton, Ohio. Renicker is also the owner and founder of Sturdy, a small web design shop and branding studio.
Notable Projects
Mac or PC? At Sparkbox, we use Macs exclusively. They are super friendly to developers, their hardware is unbeatable, and their interface design is gorgeous, so for us it’s a given. Most of us run Windows on a virtual machine, though—so we’re able to test sites locally on Internet Explorer and other Windows browsers.
In your opinion, what is the best browser for web fonts? There isn’t really a “best browser” for viewing webfonts. Most modern web browsers have great web-font support, and render beautifully. There are some that aren’t good, though. Opera Mini, for example, doesn’t support -face, so your options for making sites look great on that browser are a lot more limited.
What makes you cringe when looking at type on the web? It’s the little things. Taking the time to tweak line-height and letter-spacing isn’t difficult, but it can make a world of difference in the overall feeling of the site.
What is one thing you would like other web and graphic designers to know about web fonts? Be sure to check out the greatest thing that’s happened to web-fonts recently: cloud.typography from H&FJ: typography.com. They set the bar for gorgeous web-fonts, and the admin interface is super simple and fun to work with.
How are webfonts contributing to brand development on multi media devices? Web-fonts give designers the freedom to get creative with their designs, yet still build sites that are lean and semantic. That being said, web-fonts certainly are not a license to load up a page with a dozen typefaces just because you can. Treat custom fonts like a delicacy—consume sparingly and wisely.
What makes a great webfont worth purchasing? Character support and attention to detail.
Do you know what hinting is, if so, in your words what does hinting do? Nick Sherman says it best on A List Apart: “...hinting is to fonts what responsive layout is to websites. It allows a single font file to adapt to a variety of contexts...”
How much coffee do you consume on a daily basis? A lot. There’s always a pot brewing here in the office, so I help myself.