What's cool for back to school? A fresh look at the gear

NEW YORK -- For kids of all ages, one big thing helps soften the blow of summer turning into fall: fresh and fun back-to-school gear.

Supplies with popular licensed characters from movies, TV shows and books always make a splash among younger children, while older ones contemplate design and functionality for everything from middle-school lockers to dorm rooms.

This year, the rambunctious little yellow Minions have their own feature-length film spinoff from the "Despicable Me" franchise and have surfaced on backpacks and notebooks available at Target.

A new take on Charlie Brown in another theatrical release, "The Peanuts Movie," due out in November, might have something to do with two choices in Snoopy-themed soft lunch bags from Target.

At Staples, students at two middle schools will see the fruits of their labor hit shelves. They were chosen to work in teams to come up with school supplies of their own for the company's new Designed by Students Collection.

This photo provided by Poppin shows lime-green softie-grip grass in a tray. (Poppin via AP)

Among the winning products: The Big Pen, a pencil case that looks like a pen or pencil and actually writes. It comes in versions that are highlighters, ball point pens, markers and mechanical lead pencils. The cases include a pencil sharpener and real erasers at one end. Refills are available for the writing-implement part.

Another of the student designs chosen is an ingenious locker organizer that zigzags vertically to create nifty cubicles. The Floating Shelf comes in neon green and gray, purple and pink, and black and dark blue.

Alison Corcoran, senior vice president of marketing for Staples, said the company worked closely with about 48 students from Middle School 88 in Brooklyn and the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. About 14 products are included in the collection.

"They made presentations. The teams did self-criticisms and evolved their ideas as part of the curriculum," she said. "School supplies have been around forever. We thought, 'Let's take a fresh look with the people who are actually using these things on a day-to-day basis and ask, "How can we make them better and more relevant?"'"

Another of the student designs is the Back2Back School Bag, a rectangular-shaped backpack that provides wider storage space and has two oversized slots for laptops and folders. It also includes a separate, attached compartment at the bottom for lunch or snack items.