Does it make sense to reinvent the wheel every time we start a new project? No. My work echoes my past and I stand by it. Some say, “that looks like Readernaut” or “that looks like Playground Blues” and I say yes, they are me.
If it worked there it will work here. When a problem is solved I move on because each project has its fair amount of new problems and I’d rather spend time on new, more interesting problems. This doesn’t mean I don’t improve on past solutions. Everything evolves.
We all bring our individual design style and solutions to the table. Projects are a collection of problems and if you quickly eliminate the solved problems you can dig your heals into the unsolved.