When the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians commissioned a massive $55 million resort expansion, Corbin Design was tapped to develop identity designs and wayfinding signage for the new facility. The renovated resort boasts an expanded casino, a conference center, three restaurants and a 100-room hotel.
Our first step was to develop identities for resort amenities. Working closely with the Tribal Council, tribal historians, the resort’s marketing department and the architect/interior design team, we first conceptualized names consistent with the tribe’s history and tribal lore. Visual representations of those names, along with signage designs to match the architect’s vision for each amenity, followed. These identities now appear in signage, on the Web, and in the resort’s print and broadcast advertising.
Wayfinding for a facility this large begins at the highway entrance, and ends at facility destinations. Using themes and materials from the architecture and interior design, we developed a system that is sensitive to the traditions of the tribe, fits seamlessly with the facility design, and uses the latest sign technologies in a simple and cost-effective way.
Since opening in the summer of 2000, the Little River Casino has experienced growth well beyond initial projections. We’d wager that our effective and attractive identities and wayfinding system played a part in that success.
