What it had to solve
NTT Sonority, NTT Group's first audio brand, launched on the philosophy of 'Co-being' — sound that connects people to the world rather than pulling them into self-immersion — and nwm ONE, its flagship, had to make that philosophy tangible in hardware.
The idea
Open-ear headphones as a 'door connecting two worlds of sound': minimal design keeps listeners aware of surroundings — audio that enhances reality, not escapes it.
How it works
Studio 83Design built an open-ear, over-head 'ear speaker' with a clean, uncluttered form using a design language of 'blank spaces' and colorlessness, with engineered details that signal precision; with no ear cups or noise cancelling, music mixes with the room instead of blocking it. The brand named the product an 'ear speaker' rather than headphones, repositioning what listening to music means.
What it did
iF Gold Award 2025 — one of only 75 Gold winners from roughly 11,000 entries, chosen by 131 experts — followed by Red Dot Design Award 2025 Best of the Best and JIDA Design Museum Selection Gold. Judges called it 'not to escape reality but to enhance it'.
Background
When NTT Group created its first audio brand, nwm (pronounced 'noom'), it started from a critique of the category: conventional earbuds and closed headphones pull listeners into self-immersion, cutting them off from the people and places around them. The brand's founding idea was 'Co-being' — sound as a way of coexisting with the world, not escaping it.
The flagship nwm ONE made that philosophy physical. Studio 83Design defined the product as 'a door connecting two worlds of sound' and gave it a design language of blank spaces and colorlessness: an open-ear, over-head ear speaker with no ear cups and no noise cancelling, so ambient sound and conversation stay present. The restrained form communicated the idea before the product was even worn.
The bet paid off in the industry's own judgement: the iF Design Award 2025 gave it the Gold Award, one of only 75 among roughly 11,000 entries judged by 131 experts, praising sound 'without isolating users from their surroundings'; weeks later Red Dot Design Award 2025 named it Best of the Best, and JIDA Design Museum Selection gave it Gold.
Why it lands
Chose connection as the product axis when every rival pushed deeper isolation
Open-ear architecture made the philosophy physically real — no ear cups, no noise cancelling
A restrained 'blank spaces' design language turned restraint into premium identity
Renaming the product an 'ear speaker' repositioned it as a lifestyle standard rather than another headphone
What you can take
When a category races toward isolation, design the opposite: open sound that preserves connection. 'Co-being' shaped the restraint, and restraint became the award-winning differentiator.
Since then
nwm ONE collected the top prizes at both iF (Gold, March 2025) and Red Dot (Best of the Best, April 2025), and the 'Co-being' philosophy became the design language for the brand's later products; NTT Sonority continued to expand the nwm line around open, socially connected listening.
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