Visitors who tour the new NCAA Hall of Champions will embark on their own journey while at the same time sharing in the journey of the student-athlete.

That overriding message is embedded in the Hall's tagline -- "It's the Journey."

Developed in cooperation with advertising representatives, the Hall of Champions staff settled on "It's the Journey" as the most appropriate catch-phrase that sums up the Hall experience.

"It captures what we're trying to portray to the visitor," said the NCAA's James W. Shaffer, director of the Hall of Champions. "Being a student-athlete is part of a journey that prepares them not only for what they're going through as a student-athlete, but prepares them for life as well -- and life is a journey in itself. "Anyone who goes through the Hall will relate to the life aspect as a journey."

The Hall's mission, tagline and logo were developed by Caldwell Vanriper/Marc, the Hall's advertising agency, which Shaffer said went through a process of "listening to us and reading our materials and coordinating our vision for the Hall with what they believed would catch people's attention."

"We thought their presentation back to us was right on," Shaffer said. The Hall's mission statement is "To inspire, excite and educate through the extraordinary journey of the student-athlete."

Shaffer said the logo design purposely incorporates the more abstract depiction of the Hall with a more traditional tag.

"We think it will become a very identifiable mark," he said.