Chiswick Grotesque
Commercial Type · Paul Barnes · 2019
A vernacular nineteenth-century grotesque from the wider Chiswick programme, drawn from the bold, geometric street letters of the 1830s.
About
A vernacular grotesque by Paul Barnes that captures the bold, stripped-down sans serif letters that exploded across British street scenes in the late 1820s and 1830s. Chiswick Grotesque has the round, geometric bowls and industrial aesthetic of letters cast for machines and factory signage rather than printing types, sitting alongside Chiswick and Chiswick Sans for editorial and identity work that wants a crude, nineteenth-century display voice.
Classification
Commercial Type place Chiswick Grotesque within the late-1820s and 1830s explosion of sans serifs, framed as the bold, stripped-down letter of nineteenth-century street scenes rather than printing types, with round geometric bowls and an industrial aesthetic.