Your boss tells you to present a project in the most creative way possible. Which Office program would you use?
PowerPoint is the clear winner for most. Some would probably pick OneNote or even Word. What about Excel though?
Excel, are you serious? What can you do with a boring spreadsheet?
If that’s your thought, then you’re wrong like so many others. There are amazing things you can do with excel that most people don’t know about. Excel can be a powerful tool to tap into your creativity.
Don’t believe it? Then take a look at some of the cool things that people have done with this “boring” program.
1. Traditional Japanese Art
First, let’s start with one of the most unexpected things to come out of Excel. Who knew that a spreadsheet program can be an awesome platform for digital art? Well, Tatsuo Horiuchi did.
The man has been using Excel’s Autoshape tool to create beautiful works of art for twenty years! You can see some of Horiuchi-san’s works on his website.
The story of how he got started is quite fascinating. He needed a new challenge in his life but didn’t want to spend money on art supplies or expensive digital painting software. Long story short, he found Excel, practiced painting with it, and blew the competition away in an Autoshape art contest in 2006.
2. GIFs Are One of the Neat Things You Can Do With Excel
By customizing each cell in the spreadsheet, you can create pixel art with blocky aesthetics like what you see in games like Minecraft. This task is made even easier with downloadable tools such as net excel.
However, don’t limit yourself to just pictures.
One of the advanced things you can do with Excel is to add animation to your creation. You can tell an even better story by making your images move. Check out this music video made entirely from Excel animation by MysteryGuitarMan.
3. Games Anyone?
Who doesn’t love games and puzzles? Well, you can make games with Excel too!
Remember Tetris? You can find different versions of Tetris online that are made and playable in Excel. Play one of the most addictive games ever while pretending that you’re busy crunching numbers.
Another game that seems like a natural fit is Sudoku. You can download or create your own Sudoku game in Excel. The best thing about it is that it’s both a solver and a puzzle generator for endless hours of fun!
While those are good examples, that’s not all that Excel is capable of. If you’re a fan of role-playing games then you’re in for a treat.
Cary Wilkin is an accountant from Canada who made Arena.xlsm. It’s a full RPG, with over 2000 enemies, different spells and unique items, and eight boss encounters. It also has four different endings and 100 achievements.
Excel Is Exciting!
With all the cool things you can do with Excel, it’s high time to get rid of the “boring” label. Excel is full of potential, but you need to have the patience and knowledge to harness its power.
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Rene Bennett is a graduate of New Jersey, where he played volleyball and annoyed a lot of professors. Now as Zobuz’s Editor, he enjoys writing about delicious BBQ, outrageous style trends and all things Buzz worthy.
