U Can Design

Luciana Canu she is an Italian a self-taught designer. She always wanted to study Design and live in a multicultural environment, so seven years ago she moved to London in order to follow her dream. She’s passionate about textile and repeating pattern, she studied Digital Pattern Design-Print & Swimwear Design at UAL in London and in 2021 she joined a part time course at Shillington College to improve and develop her skills while simultaneously pursuing her project to design handmade bikinis.

CONTENTS PORTFOLIO 2022

01 LEVEL UP – Branding

This brief it was about rebrand a Gaming Museum based in Berlin. Behind this concept there’s a want to experience a new way of gaming and it want to communicate an open and friendly environment, where not only expert gamers are welcome, but also for those that are curious about this world. Often gamers have the tendency to self isolate, with this experience we want to create a place where they can connect with other passionate people and can also involve friends and family that usually don’t understand them and considering to be weird.

02 THE POWER OF NOW – Cover Design

The Brief was to represent the cover of the book : “The Power of Now” which is guide to spiritual enlightenment. written by Eckhart Tolle. The concept was to communicate being present and enjoying the moment. Using the association words and visualisation technique I ended up with the Italian quote “Dolce Vita”. The word “Dolce” means “Sweet” in English, so I had the idea to bake a cake as a symbol of enjoyment of life and candle to represent the power of enlightenment.

03 MELUSINE – Packaging

Melusine is a branding project to create the packaging for hair soap-bar made from seaweeds. The demographic is women between 30/40 years old. Individuals love to be in touch with nature and respect the environment, living a healthy life and at the same time seeking a profound connection with their femininity empowering their own uniqueness and potential. The story : “Mélusine” or “Melu-sina” is a figure of European folklore, a female spirit of fresh water in a holy well or river. She is usually depicted as a woman who is a serpent or fish from the waist down.

04 SONIC REDUCER – Editorial

The Brief was to Design a Punk Rock Magazine. The concept is to express the revolutionary movement of Punk culture giving a sense of homesickness for a historic period in the U.K. where an eager audience of youths who felt disenchanted by British society wanted to be heard and recognised.I chose to use the font paint style as symbol of rebellion, the acid yellow colour reminded me of fading, something that belong to the past, but is still bright, vivid and powerful.

05 STAR TALK – Digital UI

This project is consist the design an astronomy app. The Target Audience is for people of different ages who love Astronomy and want to learn or share their knowledge about Constellations. The core Idea is to encourage youths to connect with old people who work in the environment, in order to share the same interests also to give them opportunity to study science & hopefully enter the sciences as a career. Visual Keywords: Minimal- Smart – Friendly.

STYLE GUIDE

06 DEMENTIA COLLECTIVE – Branding

Dementia Collective is a branding project born from the idea to help Elderly people with Dementia and their relatives to connect with the community in order to don’t make them feel isolated but supported instead while facing this disease. The idea of a Recycle Campaign derive from my own experience living with an old woman with Dementia. During lockdown I was looking for some activities to engage her in order to fight her anxiety. I found out that going around to the park with litter stick was perfect. She felt useful for the environment, walking trough the park was enjoyable and also was very sociable because curious people were approaching us to have a chat.

THANK YOU

NEW COLLECTION SUMMER 2021

Creativity for me is the way that I can express myself. Sometimes it is difficult to find the time for it, especially when you work hard to pay your bills, but it is not impossible if you really want to. I really enjoy projects: trim and stitch a new bikini, design a new fabric. It is in the creative process that I can be really myself, where I can challenge, explore and make mistakes. Making a bikini for me is not to make a product for the happiness of others. It makes me happy. It is a process that starts from my heart and goes directly to my mind. It is like when we plant a seed, it will bloom naturally in springtime. It requires time, passion, love and practice. It is when I look at all the single pieces I made that I realise I was seeking love, happiness and joy outside, when all of these treasures were already a part of me. So I really hope that you will sense all the love I put in every little detail. I wish you can feel the joy in all the patterns I made, and you will see the happiness in all coloured fabrics I chose for this collection.

Thanks to Everybody for your support and to one of my biggest fans Caterina Oppia & Ilaria Corda Photographer for modelling and capturing these beautiful photographs.

Please feel free to comment and share on my page what is your dream.

Why you should choose Ucan Designs?

With my designs I don’t want only create a product, I also want to deliver the message that is important to create with consciousness, having the courage to approach things differently in order to respect our enviroment and make it a better place, by disrupting the fashion industry’s still non-sustainable, non-ethical standards. Ucan is a sustainable brand, all the fabrics are printed in UK, this help to keep the carbon footprint low, using a water-free manufacturing and printing process with inks that are eco-friendly.

All the designs are Original and Unique made with high quality materials and a deep passion for details. If you buy Ucan’s creations on Ebay website, 10% of the sale of your purchase will benefit CHOOSE LOVE a refugee charity with minimal overheads and maximum impact.

SUSTAINABLE FASHION

It’s near impossible to be 100% sustainable 100% of the time, but every little helps! I finally managed to buy a piece of regenerated nylon ECONYL® to create a bikini.

An Italian Company have invented a way of converting discarded fishing nets into a high performance fabric which has exactly the same quality of virgin nylon. Is still rare to find it online, at the moment this fabric is available only for big brand, but it’s a start and I’m very glad that fashion industry is becoming aware of our global waste and plastic pollution crises by recycling materials through this kinds of innovative techniques.

Ucan Design
My designs are inspired by my background, what I experienced growing up in a beautiful island, my love for the sea and for surfing, considered not just as a sport but as a style of life. U-Can Design speak to those who love freedom and nature with a touch of Hawaiian style, those who dream of beautiful sea and look for the next chance to ride the perfect wave, the brave ones and those ready for the next adventure.

U-Can is a word-pun that comes from my last name. As a self-taught designer, I wanted to create something for people like me and to bring them the message that it is possible to cultivate your passions despite your financial,geographical or physical circumstances.
My own name was there to inspire me: Canu…Can U…U Can! You can choose the pattern and create the item that you like and it will made and delivered to you.
You can also contact me for your special requirements or customize surfaces, your bikini, flip flops,
mat bag and many more….U decide!