Registration for the Icograda World Design Conference 2009 is now open. The event will be hosted by the Central Acadamy of Fine Arts in Beijing, China from the 24th through the 30th of October.

The theme of this year's Congress is Xin. Literally signifying human speaking, and hence Message/Letter in Chinese, Xin represents a primitive means of communication. Today, however, it has come to encompass many more dimensions. Under this theme, Icograda World Design Congress Beijing 2009 will explore contemporary issues surrounding communication design through a series of presentations, discussions and pre-Congress workshops.

Speakers include: Jan van Toorn, Sol Sender, Patrick Whitney, Kohei Sugiura, Huda Smitshuijzen Abifares, Studio Pip & Co/Andrew Ashton, Peter Bankov, David Barringer, Ruedi Baur, Pierre Bernard, Brian Collins, Sheila Levrant de Bretteville, Base Design, Kiko Farkas, Peter Hall, Dan Hill, Zuzana Lednicka, Laurence Madrelle, Victor Margolin, Achyut Palav, Peet Pienaar, David Pigeon, Rick Poynor, Qiu Zhenzhong, Dexter Sinister/David Reinfurt, Michael Rock, Helmut Schmid, David Small, Hilton Tennant, Troika, Michael Vanderbyl, Yao Dajuin and Yoon Ho Seob.

Many institutes throughout China will also host a variety of pre-conference workshops, including: Chinese Banknote Design in Shenzhen, Contemporary Creativity of China Traditional Hand-woven Fabric in Ji'nan, and Sign's Design and Application of the Shanghai Style in Shanghai. Icograda is seeking both workshop leaders (airfare provided within China) and participants for these workshops. Browse the full list here.