First Light
Resort & Casino
TAUNTON, MASSACHUSETTS, USA
BACKGROUND
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has inhabited present day Massachusetts and Eastern Rhode Island for more than 12,000 years. After an arduous process lasting more than three decades, the Mashpee Wampanoag were re-acknowledged as a federally recognized tribe in 2007. First Light Resort & Casino is named for Wampanoag, the “People of the First Light.” The building site for the resort casino lies on 321 acres of tribal land in Taunton (40mi south of Boston and 20mi northeast of Providence, RI). It was purchased by the tribe in 2012 and currently sits in federal trust. Under federal law, this land is legally sovereign and qualifies for a casino under the U.S. Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
MY ROLES
Steelman Partners designed the exterior and interior to include gaming, multiple restaurants, a center bar, retail, parking, and two hotel towers. My role on this project was large – flying cross country to meetings every other week with our project manager, juggling the balance between business and tribal priorities, listening to a generation of elders relay important cultural stories, and bringing that information back to the team in Las Vegas to coordinate, design, and develop in detailed and meaningful ways.
DISCIPLINES
✓ Logo Creation
✓ Visual Identity Design
✓ Brand Standards Guide
✓ Color Palette Development
✓ Typeface Selections
✓ Signage Design / Direction
✓ Marketing for Groundbreaking
✓ Graphic Design Management
✓ Meeting Management
✓ Information Gathering
✓ Listening, Writing, Research
✓ Oral and Visual Presentations
✓ Design Intent for Interiors/Exterior
✓ Restaurant Branding
*Work completed while at Steelman Partners/MARQI
Brand & Experience Design
For: The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe
Taunton, Massachusetts, USA // 2014-2016
