Background Items - useless or useful?

[emptyanddeadinside]

I am hella picky about my backgrounds, but I do use them. It bothers me to see all that blank white space around my avi when I post. For me, I tend to only use backgrounds if they layer well with others, such as the two I'm wearing now. And they can't be too cluttered or too generic either. XD

[Soul of Kyr]

Guard my Bar

- Do you like/dislike backgrounds? Why?
Depends on what I am doing. Some backgrounds suck, others do not. Though I do wish that backgrounds would not shrink down when your avatar sits.
I am picky about which backgrounds I buy and use though.
- Would you like to use them, but it just doesn't work?
When I do use them, they mainly work out, kinda like the one I am wearing now. It would of looked really weird to have only white behind the hill I am sitting on in this avatar, but the right background made it great.
- Do you look forward for new background items?
Yes.
- What kind of background do you want to see in future?
I have tons that I would love to see.

[Great Lakes haze]

I love backgrounds. I didn't even begin to use them until last fall, though. And now I see their possibilities. They add layers of complexity, and they can help make an avatar into a complete digital painting. (Just a very small one, lol.)

I don't really care what kinds of backgrounds they come up with -- I'm still experimenting, and I find all types useful. I'm kind of partial to intense colors and astra features, but I'm flexible. I just bought Crime Scene for it's black-and-gray rainy alleyway scene, and I love it.

[warn the sailors]

i love backgrounds! i usually only find myself using the small ones (portrait frame, background design instead of a scene, etc) or animated ones, though. i'm also a sucker for foregrounds -- that's probably why i use animated ones so much, because they often wrap around.

[Nightmare1]

Speaking as someone who has numerous cosplaying accounts, I would say it depends. Sometimes, a background can really make an avatar, like my Dr. Finklestein, Corpse Bride, or Mr. Freeze.

Others, like Edward Scissorhands, don't really need it. It would either detract from the simplicity of a beautiful avatar, or blend in too much.