Peter Kaizer
Creative Side Projects
Design Bytes
An independent publication exploring the threads of creativity and craft behind great digital design.
The problem
Most design content online skews toward tutorials and tooling — how to use Figma, how to run a design sprint, how to prep handoff files. That's useful, but it crowds out the harder conversations about craft, philosophy, and the thinking behind good design decisions.
I wanted a space for the slower, more considered side of design writing. Not walkthroughs, but perspectives.
Approach
Design Bytes launched in 2024 as a free, independent publication built on Ghost. The format is deliberately mixed: short Bytes surface interesting discoveries, tools, and observations without demanding much from the reader; longer monthly articles go deeper into design theory, systems thinking, and the cultural influences that shape how we design.
A bi-monthly newsletter — the Design Bytes Edition — brings recent pieces together for subscribers who prefer reading in their inbox.
The content categories reflect the editorial focus: Design, Craft, AI, and a recurring Figma Friday series that unpacks specific Figma workflows in the context of broader design thinking.
Content philosophy
The publication operates from a single conviction: great design comes from designers, not tools. That means the writing treats tools as secondary — Figma, Ghost, whatever the current instrument — and keeps focus on the reasoning and judgment that tools can't replicate.
Topics draw from a wide frame: the Arts and Crafts movement and its resonance with contemporary digital work, aesthetic longevity vs. trend-chasing, the role of content in design systems, and what AI means for design practice. The goal is writing that stays useful after the current news cycle moves on.
Outcome
Design Bytes runs as a free platform with optional reader support, keeping the content fully accessible without a paywall. The reader base spans designers, design systems practitioners, and product teams. The publication also serves as the external writing component of the broader Design Bytes Media project — alongside the From Figma to Fluent Code curriculum and the Modern Web Starter template.