Kate Christman

Senior Lecturer

Kate is a Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design within the School of Communication at Falmouth University, having previously taught in the School of Architecture, Design and Interiors in Product design. She has also taught as a Visiting Lecturer and Associate Lecturer on various Foundation, BA and MA courses at institutions across the UK including the University of the Arts, London, University of the West of England and Bath Spa University. Kate Christman is a designer and educator with over 20 years of creative industry experience. She has worked as an art director for a number of multinational organisations including BMW, Mini, Diageo and Dyson. Her multidisciplinary approach across print, branding and product design has been recognised through design awards such as Blueprint, FX Design awards, Grand Design’s Green Hero award and the Soil Association’s Innovation award, and featured in various publications including Blueprint, Design week and 1000 New Eco Designs, as well as exhibitions at The Design Museum, The Conran store and The London Design Festival.

Kate is co-founder and creative director at Green&Blue, a product design company that creates habitat for species displaced by the construction processes within urban and suburban communities. Green&Blue design and manufacture Beebrick® an award winning integrated nest site for solitary bees. Made in Cornwall, UK from 75% waste material from the Cornish China clay industry the Beebrick® is easy to install and is specifically designed to be an integral part of a build. Green&Blue are a B-Corporation® and work with a range of partners and collaborators across disciplines, between industries and universities alongside bioscientists, architects, planners, ecologists, developers, surveyors, designers and manufacturers. Beebrick’s® are sold nationally and internationally and can be found in developments across the UK with construction companies such as Legacy, The Duchy of Cornwall, Wainhomes and Kier integrating them in new builds.

External Links

Kate Christman staff image

Contact details

Telephone 01326 213725
Email kate.christman@falmouth.ac.uk
Wall of breeze blocks with bespoke brick laid in
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red mason bee on bee brick
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Yellow bee brick
yellow_bb.jpg
address on cardboard package
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Bee bricks
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    Research Interests

    Research interests and expertise

    Kate's research interests are multidisciplinary and include graphic design, communication design, sustainable product design, design process, circular entrepreneurship and circular economies, collaborating actively with researchers in the areas of biodiversity, circular entrepreneurship and designing for a circular economy.
     
    Her research is focused on design within the circular economy, sustainable design practices, product design, design education and design within the built environment; adapting and rethinking how existing building components are used and how they can better cater for a variety of species. Her research investigates how design can be used to create environmental change on a large scale. She has influenced policy, worked with government and cultural organisations both locally and nationally and spoken widely at conferences and events. collaborators include The Wildlife trust, The Soil Association, The Eden Project, Cornwall Council, Duchy and the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute.

    Current projects explore how design can be used to promote biodiversity within the built environment,
    specifically through the design of new construction materials intended to be inhabited by species under-threat.

    Sustainable design strategies: cradle-to-cradle, dematerialisation, service design.
    Design process
    Life Cycle Assessment
    Eco materials.
    Product design.
    Exhibition design.
    Manufacturing production detailing.
    Typography
    Branding




    Research Topics

    • biomimicry
    • Circular economy
    • Circular Entrepreneurhsip
    • design process
    • Digital Design and Production
    • Sustainable Design

    Research Outputs

    Publications and research outputs

    • Christman, Kate

      (2021), Effect of height and colour of bee bricks on nesting occupancy of bees and wasps in SW England, In: Conservation Evidence Journal, Conservation Evidence, Cambridge, UK, pp. 10-17, ISSN: Not known, Item availability may be restricted.

    • Christman, Kate

      Hodsdon, Laura, (2023), The Bee Brick: building habitat for solitary bees, In: International Journal of Sustainable Design, Inderscience Publishers, Online and print, Vol.4 (No.3/4), pp. 285-304, ISSN: 1743-8284

    • Christman, Kate and Christman, Gavin

      (2014), Bee Brick, Perranporth, Cornwall, Item availability may be restricted.

    Teaching

    Areas of teaching

    • Product Design; Graphic Design; Communication design

    Courses taught

    • Graphic Design BA(Hons)
    • Communication Design MA

    Policy engagement within Cornwall

    Engagement with organisations which contribute to the development of educational, cultural or socio-economic policies in Cornwall

    Kate has influenced policy, worked with government and cultural organisations both locally and nationally and spoken widely at conferences and events. collaborators include The Wildlife Trust, The Soil Association, The Eden Project, Cornwall Council, Duchy and the University of Exeter’s Environment and Sustainability Institute.