To answer your question in short, yes I periodize my training.
To answer it with a little more depth, I will discuss how I view training in my mind. I look at training several ways. There's a maintenance dose (the amount it takes your body to maintain its current musculature), a minimum effective dose, a maximal effective dose, and a dose that causes over reaching, and eventual overtraining (not only of the muscle fibers, but the connective tissue, and eventually the CNS).
So I feel deload should be maintenance dose or slightly below with lowered intensity. This phase can last from 5-14 days depending on the individual and their level of accumulative fatigue. Then start adding sets and reps until you are at the minimum effective dose, and continue to ramp up over the next 5 weeks or so until you reach a period of overreaching. Then it's time for a deload.
Again, this is all dependent on the individual as some can handle higher work loads than others. It will take plenty of time and experience to determine what works best for you.