[jakewins]

Second the poster above, really enjoyed the reasoning around how and why you picked parts and the intent of various circuits..

Do you have any books you recommend on electronics? I feel I understand the basics, like what various components do in isolation, but would love to level up and understand circuit design like how you are approaching it here

[theacodes]

I'll echo sibling's comment about just doing it. Theory only takes you so far, it's important to actually build and experiment, even if it's just in a simulator.

I can recommend Practical Electronics for Inventors as a solid base of projects to experiment with and learn from. If you want to learn how to improve circuits and optimize for specific behaviors, there is a wealth of information in manufacturer application notes. A lot of the protection circuitry used in my article follows advice found in application notes.

[caraffle]

IMO the best way is to just pick a project and work on it. Using application notes and datasheets lets you piece together circuits, and you pick up design patterns along the way.