Bronze Consumer Electronics · 2025
Nostalx Speaker
by Yuqing Xiao, Menghai Xia and Siyu Zang
- Bronze A' Design Award 2025 in Consumer Electronics
- CLIENT: Functional Form Flock Allies
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 50,370
- Verification code 97E6FEF517 · Verify this award
Colors
About Nostalx Speaker
Nostalx is a retro-style Bluetooth speaker that combines music playback with multi-band radio reception. The control system includes two knobs, three buttons and a multi-position switch. The left knob selects radio channels, while the right knob adjusts volume and turns the speaker off at the minimum setting. The multi-position switch moves between Bluetooth, FM, AM and SW modes. The shell can be made of colored plastic, wood or frosted acrylic. Nostalx replaces digital displays with tactile controls to create a sensory listening experience.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
Nostalx Speaker is a Bronze A' Design Award winner, a highly prestigious recognition granted to outstanding designs distinguished by creativity, ingenuity, and astuteness. Bronze winners are amply skillful and strikingly creative artifacts that authenticate the vast experience, imagination, and resourcefulness of their designers. Nostalx Speaker is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished object that is notably professional and innovative. This Bronze A' Design Award-winning design incorporates best practices in art, science, design, and technology, and is excellent for its attention to detail. Nostalx Speaker splendidly satisfies needs, touches desires, charms feelings, and appeals to curiosity.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Nostalx is a retro-style Bluetooth speaker that combines music playback with multi-band radio functionality, offering a sensory-rich experience through its tactile interface. Unlike typical digital devices, NostalX engages touch, sound, and sight, providing a more immersive and interactive listening experience. Its design encourages ritualistic physical interactions, allowing users to express their musical tastes and lifestyle in a world dominated by digital interfaces, making it truly stand out.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Weight: 537g
Length 200mm x Height 130mm x Thickness 53mm - Tags
- Speaker, Multi-band radio, Sensory interaction, Tactile design, Retro-style, Vintage aesthetics, User experience, Lifestyle product
- Production Technology
- Nostalx is a retro-style Bluetooth speaker with music playback and multi band radio functions. It features a radio component, audio speaker, rechargeable battery, and main circuit board. The control elements include two knobs, three buttons, and a multi-position push switch. The knobs are mechanically linked to the dashboard for synchronized rotation. Shell materials vary by design style, including colored plastic, wood, or frosted acrylic for a customizable appearance.
- Design Challenge
- The design of Nostalx faced challenges in integrating an interactive interface into its retro aesthetic, avoiding digital displays to enhance multi-sensory stimulation. Balancing visual appeal with technical feasibility required iterative redesigns, particularly in incorporating existing circuitry. The team worked closely with engineers to refine controls, ensuring both functionality and design cohesion. The result is an immersive, intuitive product that blends form, function, and user engagement seamlessly.
- Research
- In recent years, sales of physical music formats like vinyl and cds have surged, valued for their permanence and nostalgic appeal in a digital world. Our research shows over 45% of consumers are dissatisfied with streaming's lack of physical interaction, craving high quality sound and a multi sensory experience. Many now view music as an expression of personal taste, favoring retro designs that blend nostalgia with modernity. This shift highlights a growing demand for music players as lifestyle products, enhancing the music experience.
- Inspiration
- For music enthusiasts, streaming has diminished music's perceived value. Physical formats like vinyl are resurging due to nostalgia. Consumers now desire tangible experiences, valuing the permanence of physical objects that evoke safety in a digital world. They crave high-quality sound and sensory-rich products that reflect their tastes and lifestyles. This project transforms the music player from a functional tool to a lifestyle product, blending vintage sensory appeal with modern convenience.
- Project Duration
- The project commenced in Savannah, Georgia in September 2023, the model was completed in Savannah by November 2023.
- Operation Flow
- Nostalx features a radio assembly, audio speaker, rechargeable battery, and a main circuit board. Its control system includes two knobs, three buttons, and a multi-position push switch for seamless use. The left knob adjusts radio channels, while the right controls volume, with a power off function at minimum. The buttons handle play/pause, fast forward, and rewind. The multi position switch toggles between Bluetooth, FM, AM, and SW, blending modern technology with a nostalgic user experience.
- Image Credits
- Pic 1 Designer Yuqing Xiao, NostalX model rendering, 2023
Pic 2 Designer Yuqing Xiao, NostalX interface introduction and model photography, 2023
Pic 3 Designer Yuqing Xiao, Explode view image of NostalX and model photography, 2023
Pic 4 Designer Yuqing Xiao, NostalX prototype model photography, 2023
Pic 5 Designer Yuqing Xiao, Multiple CMF choices of NostalX, 2023