L5 – The Big Picture | PixelUp Agency

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The Bad Chart Hall of Fame

Data visualisation done wrong — and why it matters

PixelUp — L5

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❌ Pie chart with 12 segments

When a pie chart has more than 5–6 slices, it becomes impossible to read. The tiny slices all look the same size. A bar chart would communicate this data far more clearly.

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❌ Y-axis not starting at zero

A bar chart where the Y-axis starts at 50,000 instead of 0 makes small differences look massive. This is a classic misleading chart technique — sometimes used deliberately in adverts and political campaigns.

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❌ Line chart for categories

Using a line chart to compare "YouTube", "TikTok", and "Instagram" implies there's a progression between them. Categories don't have a natural order — use a bar chart instead.

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Good chart principles

Clear title. Labelled axes. Y-axis starts at zero. No more than 6 data series. Colour used meaningfully, not decoratively. The viewer immediately understands the point.

Teacher Notes

The Y-axis manipulation example is worth expanding: show the 2020 Fox News chart that made a 3-point difference in poll numbers look enormous by starting the axis at 27% instead of 0. Students find it shocking when they realise how common this is in media. The bad line chart for categories is a mistake Google Sheets itself will sometimes suggest — students need to know to override the suggestion.

Slide 02 / 06

Which Chart for Which Data?

Matching the visualisation to the question you're answering

PixelUp — L5

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Bar Chart

Comparing values across categories. Use when you want to ask: "which is biggest/smallest?"

PixelUp: "Which creator earns the most total revenue?"

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Line Chart

Showing change over time. Use when you want to ask: "how has this changed?"

PixelUp: "How have @ZaraPlays' subscribers grown over 6 months?"

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Pie Chart

Showing parts of a whole (where all values add to 100%). Maximum 5–6 segments.

PixelUp: "What proportion of total revenue comes from ads vs sponsorships vs merch?"

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Scatter Plot

Showing relationships between two numeric variables. "Is there a correlation?"

PixelUp: "Do creators with more subscribers always earn more?"

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SPARKLINE

Mini inline chart that fits inside a single cell. Google Sheets exclusive — perfect for dashboards.

PixelUp: "Show 6-month subscriber trend in one cell per creator."

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3D charts

Avoid. 3D effects distort proportions and make accurate reading impossible. They look impressive but communicate poorly.

Never use 3D pie charts — they make the front slices look bigger than they really are.

Teacher Notes

Quick verbal quiz: "I want to show how @CoastlineEats' subscriber count has changed each month — which chart?" (Line). "I want to compare the total subscribers of all 5 creators — which chart?" (Bar). "I want to show what percentage of PixelUp's total income comes from each creator — which chart?" (Pie, but only 5 slices so acceptable). This quiz takes 2 minutes and reinforces chart selection before students start creating.

Slide 03 / 06

Creating a Chart in Google Sheets

Step by step — from data to visual

PixelUp — L5

Step 1 — Select your data

Select the data you want to chart — including headers. For a bar chart of total revenue, select the Creator column and the Total Revenue column (hold Ctrl to select non-adjacent columns).

Step 2 — Insert the chart

Go to Insert → Chart. Google Sheets will suggest a chart type based on your data — it often guesses correctly, but you can change it.

Step 3 — Choose chart type

In the Chart Editor sidebar (right side), click "Chart type" dropdown at the top. Choose Bar chart, Line chart, Pie chart, etc.

Step 4 — Customise

1Click the Customise tab in Chart Editor
2Expand Chart & axis titles — add a descriptive title
3Change series colours to match your brand (violet!)
4Double-click a chart element to edit it directly

Teacher Notes

Live demo: select A1:A6 and P1:P6 (Creator and Total Revenue columns from the starter CSV) using Ctrl+click for non-adjacent columns, then Insert → Chart. Show the chart editor sidebar. Switch the chart type from whatever Sheets suggests to "Bar chart". Add a title: "PixelUp Creator Revenue — June 2026". Change the bar colour to a violet. This demo should take no more than 4 minutes — students learn better by doing it themselves immediately after.

Slide 04 / 06

Chart Customisation

The difference between a student chart and a professional chart

PixelUp — L5

Essential customisations

1Chart title: Describe what the chart shows, e.g. "Monthly Revenue by Creator — June 2026" (not just "Revenue")
2Axis labels: Both axes should be labelled with units — "Creator" on X-axis, "Revenue (£)" on Y-axis
3Consistent colours: Use the same colour for the same creator across all charts in your dashboard
4No 3D: Remove any 3D effects — they look impressive but distort the data
5Legend: Only include a legend if there are multiple series — a single-series bar chart doesn't need one

Where to find customisation options

Double-click any chart to open the Chart Editor. Click the Customise tab:

Chart style — background colour, font, border
Chart & axis titles — add title and axis labels here
Series — change bar/line colours, add data labels
Legend — position or hide the legend
Horizontal axis / Vertical axis — set min/max values, number format

Investor-ready rule: If you handed this chart to someone who knows nothing about PixelUp, could they understand it in 5 seconds? If not, add more labels and a better title.

Teacher Notes

The "5-second test" is a real UX concept — show a dashboard for 5 seconds and ask what people understood. Use it as a peer-assessment tool: students share their screen for 5 seconds with a partner who says what they understood. This gives immediate, useful feedback on whether the chart is clear. Students who add data labels (showing the exact value on each bar) usually produce more readable charts — worth demonstrating.

Slide 05 / 06

SPARKLINE — Google Sheets Exclusive

A whole chart. Inside a single cell. No extra space required.

PixelUp — L5

What is SPARKLINE?

A SPARKLINE is a tiny chart that displays inside a single cell — perfect for dashboards where space is limited. It shows trends at a glance without taking up a chart area.

Basic SPARKLINE syntax

Show the 6-month subscriber trend for @ZaraPlays (data in C2:H2):

=SPARKLINE(C2:H2)

This creates a tiny line chart showing whether subscribers are growing, flat, or declining. You can see this for all 5 creators in a single column.

Customised SPARKLINE

Change to a bar chart and set colour:

=SPARKLINE(C2:H2,{"charttype","bar";"color","#7C3AED"})

The second argument uses key-value pairs in curly braces. "charttype" can be "line", "bar", "column", or "winloss". "color" accepts hex codes.

Google Sheets exclusive: SPARKLINE does not exist in Excel (without add-ins). This is one of several features where Google Sheets genuinely leads. If you're ever in a job interview and asked about Google Sheets vs Excel, SPARKLINE is a great example to mention.

Teacher Notes

SPARKLINE is one of the features that genuinely impresses students — the payoff is immediate and visual. Demo it live: in an empty cell, type =SPARKLINE(C2:H2) and show a tiny line appear. Then copy it down for all 5 creators — a column of 5 trend lines appears instantly. If time allows, show the customised version with the violet colour. Students consistently find this one of the most satisfying moments of the unit.

Slide 06 / 06

What Makes a Good Dashboard?

And your final tasks

PixelUp — L5

Dashboard design principles

✅One clear story — what is the most important thing the viewer should take away?
✅Hierarchy — most important data largest and top-left (eye naturally starts there)
✅Consistency — same font, same colours throughout
✅No clutter — remove grid lines, borders, and decorations that don't add information
✅Context — always include a date or time period so the viewer knows when the data is from

✅ Today's Tasks

Import L5 starter.csv
Create a bar chart — total monthly revenue by creator
Create a pie chart — revenue split (ads vs sponsorship vs merch) — then evaluate: is this a good chart choice?
Create a line chart — 6-month subscriber growth for one creator
Add SPARKLINE formulas for all 5 creators' subscriber trends
Build a Dashboard sheet — add charts, key stats, and SPARKLINE column
Apply the 5-second test with a partner — do they understand it instantly?

Teacher Notes

The pie chart task is deliberately designed to prompt critical thinking — after creating it, students should evaluate whether it's the right choice. A pie chart with 3 slices (ads, sponsorship, merch) is acceptable, but if they're comparing revenue by creator (5 slices) a bar chart would be better. The self-evaluation question in the worksheet asks them to justify their chart choices — this is the critical thinking element. End-of-unit reflection: what was the most useful skill? Which lesson will they actually use in real life? Collect these responses — they inform future planning.