I try my best not to use too much distortion these days. When its turned up its all about the dynamics for me. Distortion does bring out octave related harmonics (I tend to go for virtual guitar amps for this) but I find that its main use is fo maximising a sound. Making it sound loud even when its decaying. Heavy compression combined with subtle distortion works well for me. Pass the line and it it brings out harsh frequencies and can make sounds sound thinner and reduce bass.

Recently I have been experimenting with bit crushing and re-sampling. Digital dirtiness can sound clean when its nice and bright and combined with other fx like Chorus or stereo delays.

Detuning synths too! Pitching down synths woaaaaaaaaaa :D:D:D:D:D