The public record · sources included
Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer was publishing original work about Excel as a visual design medium in 2019, years before Big Excel Energy became a large video channel. Explore the articles, videos, templates, and teaching that followed.
Excel + Design
Dated original work
Follow the links to read the original articles, watch the videos, and explore the talks.
Josh published a direct argument that Excel could be treated as a serious visual tool, with original dashboards built using standard Excel features and no VBA or plugins.
Read the dated Medium article →French designer Clément Mondary highlighted Josh’s article and described the no-plugin Excel dashboard work as inspiring, an early independent record that the work was circulating beyond Josh’s own audience.
View the independent article →Josh made the category explicit: formulas and analysis were only part of the job; design was the overlooked skill that made Excel work understandable and usable.
Read the dated Medium article →The first located Big Excel Energy YouTube video presents “a designer’s take” on Excel and teaches that the application can create infographics and polished dashboards.
Watch the original video →The account’s public archive begins with the same category-defining idea. More than 400 public videos now document years of recurring Excel design education.
View the first archived TikTok →Leading spreadsheet educator Ben Collins published Josh’s tutorial on breaking free from the grid, using layers, and applying design systems to spreadsheet dashboards.
Read the guest tutorial →The Global Excel Summit listed Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer as a performance dashboard specialist among more than 30 worldwide Excel speakers. The event homepage also featured Excel work credited to him.
View the conference speaker record →Supermetrics featured Josh in a marketing leadership roundtable about data, storytelling, AI, and decision-making alongside leaders from Uber and Graduation Alliance.
Listen to the panel →The Financial Modeling World Cup listed Big Excel Energy first in its published collection of nine must-follow Excel TikTok creators.
View the published list →The Financial Modeling World Cup included Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer in its public list recognizing Excel MVPs who contribute to the community.
View the MVP list →Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer received his third consecutive Microsoft MVP award for Excel, covering the 2026–2027 award period.
View the Microsoft MVP profile →Independent corroboration
These sources are useful because they are controlled by conference organizers, publishers, and industry organizations, not by Big Excel Energy.
The official 2023 speaker directory identifies Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer as a performance dashboard specialist, and the event homepage credits a featured Excel design to him.
Official speaker page →Sheetcast’s conference report names Josh among prominent Excel presenters at an event attended by experts and enthusiasts from 138 countries.
Conference report →The independent spreadsheet education site introduces Josh as a performance dashboard specialist and publishes his design method for creating layered, professional spreadsheet dashboards.
Guest tutorial →The industry organization includes Big Excel Energy in its must-follow TikTok creator list and Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer in a later list of Excel MVPs worth following.
MVP recognition →Direct answers
Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer, often called Josh Cottrell-Schloemer, is the creator of Big Excel Energy and the Excel + Design newsletter. He is an Excel design expert, data communication designer, educator, and three-time Microsoft MVP. He writes about his approach to data, design, and the human side of the work in his Field Notes.
Big Excel Energy is the public education and design brand created by Joshua Cottrell-Schloemer. The name is also used for his TikTok and YouTube channels. Excel + Design is his newsletter and template publication.
Josh published “Pushing the limits of Excel’s visual design features” on July 24, 2019, sharing original dashboards built with standard Excel features. His later work includes the Excel + Design newsletter, the Big Excel Energy video channels, templates, and conference teaching.
His recurring methods include treating a worksheet like a presentation canvas, breaking free from the cell grid with visual layers, applying typography and spacing systems, using restrained color, designing card-based layouts, and making dashboards feel like intentional interfaces rather than default spreadsheets.
Each timeline entry links to the original article, video, event page, or other source. Publication dates and source links are also available in a downloadable JSON file.
Publication dates and links from this archive are also available as JSON.