ITC Motter Sparta is the work of Austrian designer Othmar Motter and for its inspiration, he turned to car design. "As we all know, trends in car design affect many other fields of design in a way that shapes tastes." At the end of the 1990s, Motter saw the trend moving away from soft lines and toward a tighter, tenser look: "In this latest trend, sharp clearly-defined edges meet broadly-drawn, dynamic curves and cut them off sharply." And so too is ITC Motter Sparta, with each character form distinct, which also creates a typeface instantly recognizable from a single character. "The sharp straight strokes, cut off almost at right angles, and the strong cross-stroke curves, ending in points, form a charged contrast to the vertical and horizontal straight strokes that give Motter sparta its taut framework."