When I design, I very rarely use a background with just a solid color or gradient. For me it’s just too smooth and clean, so I will go to my textures folder and grab one for adding some contrast and contour. If I want to keep it subtle I go to my paper textures and blend lightly over my background color. It’s one of the first things I do when starting a new project and almost always gives me ideas for where to go next in the design.