Chiswick is a collection of eight interrelated families inspired by the vernacular style of lettering found in the British Isles. During the 18th century, a new idea of how letters should be began to crystallise in Britain, a style that would inform how they would look into the next century and beyond. It has been called the English Vernacular or English Lettering Tradition, though it could be found all over the British Isles, and could be seen anywhere letters existed, and at any scale: on buildings, on signs, on medals, on coins, on pottery, on transport, and on gravestones. The style would go on to influence how printing types look, the most famous example being those of John Baskerville, a former writing master. Though the styles were varied; script (informing the famous roundhand of Bickham, Snell and Champion), seriffed letters, slab serifs, sans serifs, and even ornamental letters, they all shared a common skeletal form. The Chiswick collection captures the spirit of the vernacular in three main styles: an elegant serif, a high-contrast sans, and a workmanlike grotesque.
