Creatives: This is What You Need to Know – July 15-20

The creative sector operates in a constant state of flux, and it can be difficult to find the time to keep up with all the newest trends and concepts. And if you spend the whole week, tied to your desk, head down, finishing that client project, you may forget to engage with the wider design and creative world. On Fridays we like to bring you a little dose of creative news and inspiration to keep you informed and entertained.

This week is a real mix of concepts and advice, from accounting and social media sabbaticals, to cider drinking and 3B-printed whiskey bottles. If you want to know more, you'd better keep reading …

Don't forget, if you've heard some interesting news or seen a great creative project, let us know about it using the #workflowmaxroundup tag on twitter!

1. The talk of Auckland this week is Northern Lights, Rekorderlig cider's new pop-up bar that opened on Shortland Street on Thursday. The Swedish cider company has created a Scandinavian wonderland in the heart of Auckland – around $400,000 has been spent outfitting the pine-tree lined, wood panelled pavilion and stocking the bar with a variety of fruity cider cocktails. Open for only 8 days, the bar is already buzzing – a definite must-see for lovers of Scandinavian design.
Controversial magazine covers help with news-stand sales.

2. In light of the recent backlash following the Rolling Stones cover story featuring an alleged Boston Marathon bomber, Michael Sebastian discusses how controversial magazine covers are worth the risk.

3. Are you a freelancer or small agency dealing with an uneven workload? It seems that no matter what you do, creative work is always feast or famine – you've either got too little or you are swamped. Over on The Big Idea, accountant Russell Toplis has written a great article about cashflow and managing your uneven income.

4. 10 Signs You're Dating a Designer.

Neil Gaiman: taking a break from all things web. Photograph: Murdo Macleod for the Guardian

5. Author Neil Gaiman is going on a six-month Social Media Sabbatical. "I feel that I'm getting too dependent on phones, on Twitter," he told The Guardian. "It's a symbiotic relationship. That instant ability to find things out, to share. I want to see what happens when I take some time off." Would you do this? Could you do this?

6. Is your digital life pretty messy? This post could help you clean up your act.

7. Are you AB Testing web design and development projects? Well, you should be. DesignModo offers a great guide to AB Testing.

8. This is pretty awesome. Fourth-grader Zachary Maxwell made a short documentary about the food in his school's cafeteria. He called it "YUCK". Check it YUCK here.

9. What effect is the rise in mobile device use having on the online ad industry? Yahoo's decreasing ad revenue points to an uncertain future.

10. The world's most advanced painting robot. The E-David robot fancies itself the next Raphael. As the robot paints, it constantly adjusts the style and technique, planning each stroke in succession. The resulting works have a surprising sense of life and vibrancy.

11. In more bizarre news, Dewar's Whiskey used an army of 80,000 highlander bees to create this three-dimensional honeycomb whiskey bottle. The bees were placed in a bottle-shaped hive vessel and quickly created to honeycomb structure.

That's all from us – what are you inspired by this week?