PixelUp Agency — Lesson 5

The Big Picture

PixelUp is pitching to investors next week. They need a professional, visual summary of all five creators' performance. Your job: turn the data into charts, then build a one-page dashboard.

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The Investor Pitch

Investors don't want to read rows of numbers — they want to see the story. A well-built dashboard communicates in seconds what a spreadsheet takes minutes to understand.

Today you'll build PixelUp's investor pack using real data from the past six months.

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Today's Skills

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Bar Chart

Compare revenue across creators

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Pie Chart

Revenue by stream — then question whether it's the right choice

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Line Chart

Subscriber growth trend over 6 months

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SPARKLINE

Mini trend chart inside a single cell — Google Sheets exclusive

💡 Google Sheets exclusive: SPARKLINE is a function unique to Google Sheets. It doesn't exist in Excel. By the end of this lesson you'll know how to use it — that's a genuine competitive skill.

Task 1

Import the Performance Data

The L5 starter file contains six months of subscriber data and revenue figures for all five PixelUp creators.

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Import starter.csv

1

Create a new Google Sheet

Name it "PixelUp Investor Dashboard".

2

Import the L5 starter.csv

Go to , upload the L5 starter.csv. Choose Replace current sheet and Comma separator.

3

Check your columns

You should have 18 columns: Creator, Platform, then Jan–Jun Subscribers, Jan–Jun Revenue, and finally Ad Revenue, Sponsorship Revenue, Merch Revenue, and Total Revenue.

4

Format the revenue columns as currency

Select columns O through R (the four revenue total columns). Apply . This gives the sheet a professional finish before charting.

5

Rename this sheet tab

Double-click the sheet tab at the bottom (currently called "Sheet1") and rename it "Data". You'll add a second tab called "Dashboard" later.

💡 Column reference: Columns C–H = Jan–Jun Subscribers. Columns I–N = Jan–Jun Revenue. Columns O–R = the final four revenue breakdown columns.

Task 2

Bar Chart — Total Revenue

Create a bar chart comparing total six-month revenue across all five creators. This is the headline figure investors will see first.

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Create the revenue comparison chart

1

Select the Creator names and Total Revenue

Click cell A1, then hold Ctrl and click R1. Now hold Ctrl again and select A2:A6 and R2:R6. You're selecting two non-adjacent columns.

2

Insert a chart

Go to . Google Sheets will open the Chart Editor panel on the right.

3

Choose Bar chart type

In the Chart Editor, under "Chart type", select Bar chart (horizontal bars). This makes creator names easy to read along the y-axis.

4

Customise the chart

Click the Customise tab in the Chart Editor:

Chart title: "PixelUp — Total Revenue by Creator (6 months)"
Horizontal axis title: "Total Revenue (£)"
Bar colour: change to purple (custom hex #7C3AED)
Legend: set to None (there's only one series, so a legend adds no value)

5

Move and resize the chart

Click outside the Chart Editor to close it. Drag the chart to a clear area of your sheet. Resize it by dragging the corner handles — make it large enough to read clearly.

Which creator has the highest total revenue? Does this surprise you based on what you know about their subscriber numbers? Explain why revenue and subscribers don't always match.

Task 3

Pie Chart — Revenue Streams

Create a pie chart showing how PixelUp's total revenue is split between ad revenue, sponsorships, and merch. Then decide: was this the right chart for this data?

🥧

Create the revenue stream breakdown chart

1

Find the total revenue figures

Below your data (around row 8), create a small summary table with three labels and values. Use SUM to total each column:

A8: Revenue Stream B8: Total (£)
A9: Ad Revenue      B9: =SUM(O2:O6)
A10: Sponsorship     B10: =SUM(P2:P6)
A11: Merch          B11: =SUM(Q2:Q6)

2

Select the summary table and insert a chart

Select A8:B11. Go to .

3

Choose Pie chart

Under "Chart type", select Pie chart.

4

Add a title and data labels

Under Customise:

Chart title: "PixelUp — Revenue by Stream"
Slice label: set to "Percentage" so each slice shows its share
Set pie colours to shades of violet and teal to distinguish slices clearly

⚠️ Think carefully about this one. Pie charts are best when you have 3–5 slices and the "parts of a whole" story is what matters. Ask yourself the question in the reflection box below before moving on.

Is a pie chart a good choice for this data? What story does it tell? What does it NOT tell you that a different chart might show better? Would a bar chart be more useful here? Why or why not?

Task 4

Line Chart — Subscriber Growth

Create a line chart showing how one creator's subscriber count changed month by month over six months. Line charts are the right tool when you want to show a trend over time.

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Create the subscriber trend chart

1

Choose a creator to chart

Pick any one creator. For example, to chart @TechWithTeo (row 4), you need their January–June subscriber data in columns C–H.

2

Create a labels row for the months

In an empty area (e.g., starting at cell A14), type the month labels:

B14: Jan C14: Feb D14: Mar E14: Apr F14: May G14: Jun

Then in row 15, copy your chosen creator's subscriber values across:

A15: @TechWithTeo
B15: =C4 C15: =D4 D15: =E4 E15: =F4 F15: =G4 G15: =H4

3

Select A14:G15 and insert a chart

Go to . Choose Line chart.

4

Customise the line chart

Chart title: "[Creator Name] — Subscriber Growth (Jan–Jun)"
Horizontal axis title: "Month"
Vertical axis title: "Subscribers"
Line colour: violet (#7C3AED)
Enable Data labels to show the exact figure at each point

✅ Good charts tell a story: A well-titled line chart should be readable without explanation. Someone who's never seen the data should understand the trend just by looking at it.

Describe the trend your line chart shows. Is the growth consistent each month, or does it speed up/slow down? What might explain changes in the rate of growth?

Task 5

SPARKLINE — Trends in a Cell

SPARKLINE is a Google Sheets function that draws a tiny chart inside a single cell. It's perfect for dashboards where you want to show a trend without needing a full chart.

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Add SPARKLINE to the Data sheet

1

Add a "Trend" column header

Click on cell S1 (the column after Total Revenue). Type Subscriber Trend and press Enter.

2

Enter the SPARKLINE formula for row 2

Click on cell S2 (next to @ZaraPlays). Type this formula:

=SPARKLINE(C2:H2)

Press Enter. A tiny line chart appears inside the cell — showing @ZaraPlays' subscriber trend from January to June.

3

Copy the formula down for all creators

Click on S2 again. Drag the blue fill handle (bottom-right corner of the cell) down through S3:S6. Google Sheets automatically adjusts the row reference for each creator.

4

Make the trend column wider and taller

The SPARKLINE is easier to read in a larger cell. Drag the column S header edge to make the column about 150px wide. Then select rows 2–6, right-click and choose Resize rows — set height to 60.

🎨

Customise the SPARKLINE colour

You can pass options to SPARKLINE to control its appearance using a second argument in curly braces.

=SPARKLINE(C2:H2,{"color","#7C3AED";
"linewidth",2})
— Sets line colour to violet and makes it 2px thick

5

Update your SPARKLINE formulas with colour

Edit the formula in S2 to include the colour option shown above. Then re-copy it down to S3:S6. All five sparklines should now appear in violet.

💡 Google Sheets exclusive: SPARKLINE does not exist in Microsoft Excel as a formula. Excel has a similar sparklines feature, but it requires a different, more complex setup. This function is one reason many data professionals prefer Google Sheets for quick dashboards.

Tasks 6 & 7

Build the Investor Dashboard

Create a new sheet called "Dashboard". Copy your key stats and charts onto it — this is the one-page investor summary that tells the whole PixelUp story at a glance.

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Task 6 — Create the Dashboard sheet

1

Add a new sheet tab

Click the + button at the bottom left (next to the "Data" tab). Rename the new sheet "Dashboard".

2

Add a title row

In cell A1 on the Dashboard sheet, type: PixelUp Agency — Performance Dashboard. Merge cells A1:H1 (). Make it bold, font size 18, and fill with a violet background with white text.

3

Copy summary stats from the Data sheet

In the Dashboard sheet, starting at A3, create a summary table. Use formulas that reference the Data sheet to keep it live:

=Data!A2                   — creator name
=Data!R2                   — total revenue
=Data!H2                   — June subscribers (latest month)
=SPARKLINE(Data!C2:H2,...) — trend sparkline

Build this for all 5 creators (rows 3–7).

🖼️

Task 7 — Move Charts to Dashboard

4

Move your bar chart to the Dashboard

Go back to the Data sheet. Click on your bar chart once to select it. Click the three dots (⋮) in the top-right corner of the chart and choose "Move to own sheet" — or cut and paste it into the Dashboard sheet manually by copying and pasting.

5

Arrange your Dashboard layout

A professional dashboard should have:

A clear title at the top
A summary table with key figures (top-left or top-right)
The bar chart as the primary visual (largest element)
The pie chart and line chart as secondary visuals
Charts should be consistently styled (matching colours)

6

The 5-second test

Ask a classmate to look at your dashboard for exactly 5 seconds, then cover it. Ask them: "Who is PixelUp's top-earning creator?" and "Is subscriber growth going up or down?" If they can answer both, your dashboard communicates well. If not, think about what to make clearer.

What did your classmate get right from the 5-second test? What would you change about your dashboard layout to make it clearer?

Extension Task

Going Further

Extension

SPARKLINE — Month-on-Month Change

Instead of showing absolute subscriber numbers, create a new column that shows month-on-month change — how many subscribers were gained (or lost) each month compared to the one before. Then use SPARKLINE with colour logic to show positive months in green and negative months in red.

Step 1 — Calculate monthly change

T2: =D2-C2 Feb minus Jan
U2: =E2-D2 Mar minus Feb
V2: =F2-E2 Apr minus Mar
W2: =G2-F2 May minus Apr
X2: =H2-G2 Jun minus May
Copy down for all creators (rows 3–6)

Step 2 — SPARKLINE with colour thresholds

Y2: =SPARKLINE(T2:X2,{"charttype","bar";
                      "color1","#10B981";
                      "color2","#EF4444";
                      "negcolor","#EF4444"})

Add a column header "Monthly Δ" (the delta symbol means "change"). Which creators had any declining months? Does this match what you'd expect from the line chart?

Extension

Add a Column Chart for Monthly Revenue Trend

Rather than one total revenue figure per creator, create a grouped column chart showing all five creators' monthly revenue side by side for each month. This lets the investor see who is growing fastest month by month.

Select columns A and I–N (Creator names + Jan–Jun Revenue) using Ctrl+Click on non-adjacent columns
Insert → Chart → Column chart (not bar — vertical this time)
This gives a grouped column chart with one cluster per month, coloured per creator
Move this chart onto your Dashboard alongside the others
Does this chart replace or complement the bar chart you made in Task 2?

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Unit Complete

PixelUp — Mission Accomplished!

You've built the full PixelUp investor dashboard — and completed the entire spreadsheet modelling unit. Here's everything you've learned across the five lessons.

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Skills earned across all 5 lessons

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L1 — SUM, AVERAGE, cell formatting, freeze rows

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L2 — Absolute references, financial models, named ranges

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L3 — IF function, MAX/MIN, scenario modelling, sorting

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L4 — Data validation, conditional formatting, data quality

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L5 — Bar/line/pie charts, SPARKLINE, dashboard design

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The Big Ideas — what spreadsheet modelling is really about

Models separate inputs from calculations from outputs. Change an input, every output updates. That's the power.
Cell references are everything. Absolute vs relative determines whether your model breaks when copied.
Garbage in, garbage out. Validation protects the model from bad data entering in the first place.
Charts should tell a story. The right chart type makes the data speak — the wrong one misleads or confuses.
Dashboards are designed for an audience. Every element should help the viewer understand faster — not impress them with complexity.

Where these skills appear in the real world: Financial analysts, marketing teams, operations managers, scientists, and entrepreneurs all use spreadsheet models daily. The principles you've learned — absolute references, validation, conditional logic, visualisation — are the same principles used in professional tools like Google Looker Studio, Tableau, and Microsoft Power BI.