Flexibility
To bring the spirit of Mountaineers go first alive in headlines, without beating the phrase itself to death, we’ve created a few guidelines for communicating the essence of our brand (sans go first).
Using go or first.
Our tagline consists of two powerful parts: go and first. Go captures our willingness to take on any challenge, while first means we don’t wait for permission. So while the whole phrase go first should never appear separate from Mountaineers, individually the words go and first can create short, impactful headlines. Here are a few examples:
Go big.
Go figure.
Let’s go.
First to launch.
First of all.
Ideas come first.
Not all uses of the word go convey the idea of passionate pioneering. It’s important to reserve go for messages that clearly demonstrate WVU’s bold leadership, or headlines that support a specific call to action.
Body Copy should always support our brand. But if you’re using go or first in a headline, avoid reusing it more than once in the message that follows. The body copy should payoff the bold headline, not hit the reader over the head with the concept’s theme (or the writer’s cleverness).
Using verbs that end with —ing.
Going first is about taking action. And for that reason, starting statements with –ing verbs is a simple, but moving way to inspire our audience to act. Here are some examples:
Moving the earth and powering its future.
Measuring progress in light years.
Engineering the final frontier.
Spirited and inspiring phrases.
These are undeniable truths about innovation — how it’s achieved, and what it yields. Headlines describe the bold spirit of a pioneer, while indirectly prompting the reader to question his or her own passion for progress. Here are three examples:
Leaps and bounds belong only to the bold and brave.
Progress doesn’t wait around for precedent.
Innovation will be forged by those who get up and go after it.