1. First, you open the Data Merge tool by going to Window > Automation > Data Merge.
2. In the Data Merge drop down menu you will find the Select Data Source option. When prompted, find the spreadsheet document you want to use, but make sure it is saved in .csv or .txt format.

3. Once you select your data source, each column title within that spreadsheet document will appear as a list in the data merge window. Next, you create a text box and position it in the area of the page you would like the data to appear – remember the current document is only a template that a merged document will be created from. Once you position your text box, activate it and select the column in the Data Merge window you would like to use.

4. Next, I gave my text box a character style so that I can control the overall look of the signs with less manual work. It is important to set this in your template document before you merge your data.

5. After you have everything set, you select Create Merged Document in the Data Merge drop down menu. This will pull up an additional menu with various options on how you want to flow the information into your merged document. Once you set your preferences, click Ok.

6. Finally, your merged document will be automatically created from the template document you just made.

To see what that means, let’s have a look at three online categories that utilize hyperlocal information:

Hyperlocal news

One of the first hyperlocal applications were local news websites, which filled in the gap the dying print industry left behind. Often these news site/ blog crossovers are specific to a certain neighborhood. There are quite a few of these blogs around in New York, such as the Gothamist which is now also available in many other cities, or the Brownstoner, which focuses on real estate specific news.  But lately there are more and more start-ups that offer a platform for hyperlocal information, mash-ups that gather data from different sources about a neighborhood or town. For example, Everyblock lets users create a newsfeed for a specific address or ZIP code and collects information such as news, photos, reviews and governmental information (e.g. crime rate). Outside.in and Placeblogger offer similar services while Patch puts together sites for you and adds more categories plus an editorial process to the collection.

Hyperlocal social networks

Although it seems counterintuitive to build ones social network on virtual encounters, the most successful sites in this arena, Facebook and MySpace prove the contrary. However, with the ubiquitous availability of local-based services and devices (from Google Maps mash-ups to GPS enabled phones), hyperlocal social networks are beginning to grow and become more important.

The ultimate goal for any hyperlocal network should be to get people together who share a physical location, temporarily or permanently. There are few purely web-based applications such as STACKD (a SUPERMETRIC project), which aims to connect people within and around office buildings. Most players in this game offer location-based services through mobile phone applications. The top four are FourSquare, Gowalla, BrightKite and Loopt. They all work somewhat the same: you check in at a location (e.g. a café, bar, store) and share the info with your friends (via the app, Facebook or Twitter). You can see who else is around and might get in touch. Most apps will reward check-ins with virtual gifts/ prizes which will make you climb up the ladder within your community. Some applications feel more like a game (Gowalla) where others focus on the social component (FourSquare).

Hyperlocal advertising

Online advertising has revolutionized the market and Google is the incarnation of this phenomenon. The method and reason for success lies in content sensitive information or ads in this case. Google found the matching algorithms to display the ads that are most relevant for a website or search engine visitor.

In many cases local information makes an ad even more relevant. If you think about products you use and buy on a daily basis or multiple times per week or products you consume right away (food and drinks), local-based advertising adds a lot of value. In an article for FastCompany, Michael Gluckstadt evaluates the hyperlocal advertising market at $100 Billion. There seems to be evidence that he might be right: DataSphere just raised $10.8 Million in series B funding to expand their software offerings in this area. Where (a uLocate service) just launched a new  hypelocal ad network to connect local merchants with customers (e.g. via coupons on augmented reality apps). There seems to be a lot going on right now but the market is still young and it’s not clear what will work yet. Ultimately, services must focus on the value for users. As long as ads are fun, relevant and somewhat unobtrusive there is a true potential to become the next generation AdWords.

The iPad is coming and whether you like it or not, whether you are under- or overwhelmed and whether you will get it or not: the iPad will be here soon! At $499 and the alleged savior of the print industry, it will most likely make as much of an impact as the iPhone did.

To help us to get ready for some iPad GUI design, we found this handy PSD template (via teehan+lax). It’s quite a collection (24mb) and it even has the blue cube icon that indicates a missing Flash plugin.

How to organize your layer structure for the script

This is a great script for Illustrator: it automates the export of layers into individual JPG files.

I found this at the hicksdesign blog when I was looking for a smart way to export all 87 layers of a design explorations file to make a web presentation. The standard way of dealing with this (the ‘Save for Web’ option) would have taken me ages, but after some minor adjustments (and a bit of trial and error), this is has become most favorite tool at the moment. It just saves so much time!

Before you go, you need a clean file set-up — the script executes an export of each top-level layer, including all its sub-layers. I added a feature that adds any layers named ‘ALWAYS’ as visible on top of each export. This is good for keeping a browser window visible all the time in the background or a logo, or any other elements that never change throughout your layers.

The size of the export area is defined by a cropping mask, so make sure you have one in place  — otherwise the image will be cropped to the size of all visible elements on a layer.

Just throw the script in the folder Apps/Illustrator/Presets/Scripts and execute it will show up under File/Scripts.
(thanks Pete for helping me with the ALWAYS feature in javaScript!)

Download the jsx file for the script here as ZIP