OUR BLOG

Blended Designs Featured on NPR
Founder Casey Kelley was interviewed on 'First Coast Connect' with Melissa Ross.

As Featured in the Houston Chronicle
Get Ahead of the Class
Adding to the list of trends is a growing demand for ethnic diversity. Take the Blended Designs’ 1954 backpack collection. It’s the brainchild of Casey Kelley, a former consumer analyst in Florida who decided to create a line of backpacks at the request of her 9-year-old son, Carter.
“My son wanted one with his face, or someone who looked like him, on his own bag,” Kelley said. “I did the research and found only 2 percent of character bags on the market feature children of color.”
Within three weeks of her son asking for his own bag, Kelley launched the 1954 collection in March 2017 on Facebook. After several celebrities posted images of her bags, the line sold some $250,000 bags in several months. The backpacks start at $34.95 and come in 14 styles and three sizes.
Kelley regularly attends expos and trade shows where she finds the backpacks have a mass appeal. “Kids recognize at a young age that this isn’t normal to see a face that looks like them on a backpack, so they grab the bags and hug them,” she said.
She named it the “1954 collection” after the Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka case, a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the court declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students to be unconstitutional.
“If you change the images, you can change the narrative,” Kelley said. “I hope the bags will help build their self-esteem, and I hope they make children feel they can do anything.”
Read the full story here.

Yandy Smith Harlem Bag Drop
Yandy Smith best known for her role on Love & Hip Hop: New York did a bag drop giving out Blended Designs backpacks to kids in Harlem.
Hancock Whitney Featured Business
As featured on Hancock Whitney.1954 by Blended Designs Donates $20,000 and Backpacks to Single Mom-Turned Community Caregiver
1954 by Blended Designs as seen on ABC's The View. Watch full episode.
Jax Entrepreneur, Backpack Maker Sees Success While Helping Children
Last March, Casey Kelley’s 9-year-old son Carter took her to dinner and pitched her an idea: he wanted a bag with his face on it. He would wear it to school and put his books in it, he said, and everyone would love it.
FedEx Small Business Grant Contest Winner!
Check us out via their website and read about what we did to receive this award!
Representation Matters: How One Woman Is Empowering Black Children & Defying Stereotypes Through Backpacks
Here’s a little-known fact: Less than 2% of the backpacks in the marketplace reflect children of color.
