Penguins have always been my favourite animal. There’s something about their clumsy waddle and sleek dives that makes them both hilarious and fascinating. So, for my latest personal project, I thought: why not bring penguins to life inside Tableau?
The idea is simple but ambitious. I want to create a dashboard that does two things:
- Plot thousands of points on a scatter plot to build a pixel-like image of a penguin.
- Animate those points across frames so the penguin can jump, wave, and walk.
To make it even more engaging, I’ll also include charts about different penguin species, highlighting their unique traits. Think of it as a playful blend of data art and storytelling with a sprinkle of science.
The Challenge: Making the Penguin Move
The first step is data. And here’s the catch: this kind of dataset doesn’t exist online. Nobody has conveniently mapped out a penguin in scatter-plot-friendly coordinates! That means I’ll need to create my own dataset from scratch.
Here’s where AI swoops in to help. Manually plotting thousands of points isn’t realistic. But if I can describe what I want and give AI a reference image, it can generate points for me.
I already know the structure of my dataset. It needs these columns:
- X and Y - the coordinates for each point on the scatter plot
- Frame - to group points into animations (like frames in a flipbook)
- Colour - so each point knows whether it belongs to the penguin’s body, beak, flipper, etc.
- Point ID - a unique identifier so Tableau doesn’t merge points together
With this foundation, the plan looks like this:
- Start with a static penguin image (just one frame).
- Generate thousands of X and Y positions mapped to that image.
- Build additional frames by shifting the points slightly to simulate movement.
- String them together into an animation (roughly 25–30 frames per action).
The Fun Part: Teaching with Penguins
Once the animation is ready, I’ll add a second dataset. This time focusing on penguin species. Charts on things like height, weight, habitat, and even their quirky behaviours will sit alongside the animation. It’s part fun, part education, and totally penguin.
Step-by-Step Guide: Creating a Penguin Animation in Tableau
- Pick Your Penguin
- Find a clean, simple image of a penguin to use as a reference.
- Plan Your Dataset
- Define the required columns: X, Y, Frame, Colour, Point ID.
- Decide on the number of frames (25–30 for smooth movement).
- Generate Data with AI
- Write a detailed prompt for AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.) explaining the dataset structure.
- Upload your penguin image as a guide for X/Y coordinates.
- Export the output as CSV.
In the next part of the blog we will go through a plan to bring the Penguin to life!