Visual Silence: The Aesthetic and Communicative Power of Minimalism in Brand Visual Identity

In an era of visual overload, global brands increasingly communicate through restraint rather than excess. Using a Cohesive Triadic Model, this study qualitatively analyzes forty-one logos from ten global brands across different sectors. The analysis applies a structured coding matrix and demonstrates how minimalism creates meaning through processes such as semiotic compression and rhetorical silence. Sectoral comparison shows differentiated communicative functions: technology and finance signal trust and transparency, fashion conveys prestige and emotional distance, and automotive design communicates precision and innovation. Beyond introducing the triadic model, the study offers an analytically replicable framework for decoding minimalist design across brand systems, showing how visual silence operates as a cultural logic in contemporary media—where simplicity communicates authority, universality, and trust.