Yes, we use cookies too. They help our website run smoothly.
For: Owners and managers of shopping centres launching a new retail format who want the brand to work louder than any marketing campaign.
Developing the Brand Identity for 'Telegraf' Department Store: How Rostov’s First Fashion Department Store Got Its Own Visual Language
Launching a brand for a format that did not exist in the city: 2,000 sq m on the second floor of the 'Gallery Astor', over 100 brands of Russian and international designers, one monogram from which the entire system is assembled.
Fact Sheet
Telegraf Department Store, Rostov-on-Don, Gallery Astor shopping centre
Business Type: the city’s first branded department store. Multi-brand format with open layout and single checkout
Scale: 2,000 sq m of retail space, over 100 brands of Russian and international designers
Scale: 2,000 sq m of retail space, over 100 brands of Russian and international designers
- ChallengeTo build a brand from scratch for a format that did not exist in the city. To make the department store a name in its own right, not just a sign above a rental space.
- SolutionBrand identity and style guide where the letters 'T' and 'F' function as a mark, pattern, background, and navigation.
Scope: logo, system of style-defining elements, packaging, tote bags, gift cards, invitations, photo zones, outdoor teaser campaign, etc. - ResultThe department store opened on 16 September 2019. At launch, it brought together over 100 brands across 2,000 sq m.
Timeline: 90 days
Key highlight
The 'TF' monogram was designed as a tool, not a picture. It can be rotated, intertwined, and transformed into a pattern, frame, or background under text. The entire system is built from two letters.
Table of Contents
Building a Brand for a Format That Didn't Exist in the City
Research: Between Boutique and Online Showcase
Strategy: Restrained for the Façade, Lively for Stickers
Concept: Two Letters from Which the Entire Style Is Assembled
Teaser: An Eye That First Closes, Then Opens
Application in Context: From Gift Card to Photo Zone
Results and Conclusions
Research: Between Boutique and Online Showcase
Strategy: Restrained for the Façade, Lively for Stickers
Concept: Two Letters from Which the Entire Style Is Assembled
Teaser: An Eye That First Closes, Then Opens
Application in Context: From Gift Card to Photo Zone
Results and Conclusions
The Challenge: Building a Brand for a Format That Didn’t Exist in the City
Telegraf was launched as a new fashion retail format for a city with established habits. On one hand, Rostov had luxury boutiques in Gallery Astor and a couple of closed shopping centres. On the other, young Russian designers whom customers scrolled through on social media and ordered from Moscow. There was no third option.
Between these poles, a brand needed to be built that spoke both 'premium' and 'accessible' in a single language. This project is useful for those launching a new retail concept in a region and who do not want it to be mistaken for a subdivision of the host shopping centre.
Between these poles, a brand needed to be built that spoke both 'premium' and 'accessible' in a single language. This project is useful for those launching a new retail concept in a region and who do not want it to be mistaken for a subdivision of the host shopping centre.
Research: Between Boutique and Online Showcase
The team studied three reference points.
Classic department stores with history — Western premium chains and Russian TSUM. Monochrome typography, serif fonts, palettes of two or three colours. The language of premium that does not live well on social media.
New Russian retail concepts in shopping centres — Tsvetnoy and local department stores. Patterns and colour exist, but when scaled across dozens of assets, they often lose unity.
The visual language of social media, where Telegraf’s audience spent hours. Square cards, coloured backgrounds, short phrases. Works on screen, scales poorly to façades and bags.
None of these references solved the entire challenge. A unique system was needed where the typography of the façade and the liveliness of digital formats are held together by a single style-defining element.
Classic department stores with history — Western premium chains and Russian TSUM. Monochrome typography, serif fonts, palettes of two or three colours. The language of premium that does not live well on social media.
New Russian retail concepts in shopping centres — Tsvetnoy and local department stores. Patterns and colour exist, but when scaled across dozens of assets, they often lose unity.
The visual language of social media, where Telegraf’s audience spent hours. Square cards, coloured backgrounds, short phrases. Works on screen, scales poorly to façades and bags.
None of these references solved the entire challenge. A unique system was needed where the typography of the façade and the liveliness of digital formats are held together by a single style-defining element.
Strategy: Restrained for the Façade, Lively for Stickers
The brand was built on duality. Two voices, one mark, a shared palette.
The first voice is restrained. On the sign and invitations, it works as a signature for high fashion. No unnecessary details.
The first voice is restrained. On the sign and invitations, it works as a signature for high fashion. No unnecessary details.
The second voice is street-level. Stickers with phrases like 'Time to shop', 'Trend-setter', 'Style-obsessed', 'I'm a VIP'. This is the language the audience uses in chat conversations. It lives on bags, totes, and window displays — where the closest contact with the customer happens.
The link between the voices is the mark. One monogram that works in both restrained and loud presentations.
The link between the voices is the mark. One monogram that works in both restrained and loud presentations.
Concept: Two Letters from Which the Entire Style Is Assembled
The idea came from the typography of the name itself. The team looked at the letter 'F' (Ф) in the word 'Telegraf' and lingered on its structure. Symmetrical ovals to the left and right of the vertical axis. If you take only this axis and hang the letter 'T' above it, you get a monogram. 'T' as a roof, 'F' as a foundation. A vertical that reads as a column — an architectural reference to the department store’s building itself.
This mark solved three tasks simultaneously.
- It instantly identifies the brand: two letters are enough to recognise Telegraf without the full name.
- It scales without loss. From an 8 mm website icon to a 3-metre-high photo zone.
- It can be rotated, intertwined, and transformed into a pattern without breaking the identity
Want this level of systematic thinking for your brand? Contact us.
Teaser: An Eye That First Closes, Then Opens
The outdoor advertising before the department store's opening is a chapter of its own. The team split it into two stages.
The first banner – a revelation. No details, no date. Only intrigue and a play on words: 'the opening of the century' as both an event and an anatomical detail.
The first banner – a revelation. No details, no date. Only intrigue and a play on words: 'the opening of the century' as both an event and an anatomical detail.
The second banner — a teaser. The connection between the two banners worked without explanation. Drivers who passed by twice pieced together the story themselves: first closed eyes, then open eyes. 'Opening of the century' transformed into 'a new perspective'. The teaser did not talk about the store — it promised a shift in the way people see shopping.
Application in Context: From Gift Card to Photo Zone
There were over twenty assets in the project. Here are seven that hold the system together.
Final Conclusion
Telegraf became that rare case where identity in a regional project did more than marketing. It gave the format a name before the tenants had even displayed their first collections. And it showed that Russian retail can speak in a premium tone without copying European language.
If you are launching a new retail format or refreshing an existing concept, tell us about your challenge.
We will analyse the situation and propose an approach on a free 30-minute introductory call.
CONTACT US
Q&A
A department store contains dozens of tenant brands, each with its own identity. The department store’s style must maintain the unity of the space without drowning out the voices of individual brands. This requires a flexible system with an emphasis on style-defining elements rather than rigid logo usage rules.
On average, 6 to 10 weeks: 2 weeks for research and strategy, 3–4 weeks for concept and iterations, 2–3 weeks for the system, style guide, and adaptation to key assets.
A teaser builds brand recognition before the customer sees the product. For new formats in a region, this is critical: it creates anticipation and turns the opening into an event. In Telegraf’s case, the 'Opening of the Century' teaser built an audience on social media a month before launch.
Project Team
- AstorShopping gallery
- Nicolay KonstantinovTelegraph invited expert
- Ekaterina SichkarFounder, Creative Agency SICHKAR GROUP
- Yana BelousovaCreative & Strategy Director
- Vero YuvakaevaDesigner
Other Projects
You May Also Like:
Book a Free 30-Minute Online Consultation
Following the consultation, we will provide a brief analytical summary and propose solutions tailored to your specific challenge.