Thanks to the WordPress team for recognizing Matter + Particular.

The film has won Best Cinematography awards at the Slamdance Film Festival (iconoclastic alternative to now-gentrified Sundance) and other festivals, and is continuing its screening tour through Europe.

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For over seven years, Matter has applied research and multidisciplinary design expertise to the products, interfaces, and systems of a diverse array of clients. Now, for the first time, Matter is directing its efforts toward its own products. The first such product, to be announced in 2009, is a Web-based business application called Perq. The product is for business owners and personnel managers, supporting the HR function of creating policy and managing requests for time off, or “leave”.

The formulas for accruing and “spending” vacation, sick days, and other leave types can be surprisingly complex for staff as well as employers, especially if different levels of tenure are involved. And once you’ve overcome the complex rules, there is the burden of ensuring those rules are followed and that money and effort aren’t wasted in the form of mis-accounted leave. Perq simplifies and automates all these problems with a simple, enjoyable interface commanding powerful logic and algorithms. Perq gives business owners, team managers, and HR professionals an elegant and solid solution to problems they often prefer not to think about, and it gives whole teams of staff and managers a clear view into an otherwise unclear picture of who is on leave, and when.

At Matter, we have long been ambivalent enthusiasts and critics of “Web 2.0″ rhetoric, as well as the product morass. And it is both enthusiasm and criticism that compel us to enter the crowded Web application market. There had to be a market need, and we had to be sure we could uphold our commitment to quality. With both those factors clear, we now confidently and responsibly bring Perq to light.

We established early on that any venture in this area would adhere to Matter principles of user-centered design and its standards of excellence in form and function. This is the value we provide to clients in our strategic design practice; it is imperative we provide it to product customers as well.

We look forward to revealing more in the coming weeks and months, and to making other exciting announcements. Stay tuned here or subscribe to the RSS feed for ongoing updates about this exciting new product and its development. And let us know here if you would like to participate in the Perq private beta test.

Since its formation in 2002, Matter has delivered identity systems, package design, interface design, and related visual design applications, all of which came under Matter’s overarching strategic design offering.  Now with Particular, those projects which were challenging to organize and classify under the Matter rubric, are specially identified and planned, providing new value to Matter clients.

Numerous client companies, ranging from Global 1000 to start-ups, have employed our communication and visual design services over the years, usually as ad hoc activities among many activities in a strategic program. Under the Particular structure, clients now procure these activities specifically, and we are better able to plan and deliver these applied design projects.

Enjoy browsing the Particular site, and contact us to discuss your own Particular project.