Web and application designers need icons, and most of the time we need more or less the same ones---icons representing users, icons for navigation and interactions, social media icons, etc. Several projects have been bundling these icons into pictographic fonts (sort of a Zapf Dingbats for icons).

Graphic designer Bobby Solomon curates an amazing collection of desktop backgrounds on his site thefoxisblack.com (formerly Kitsune Noire).

Check out subtlepatterns.com for all sorts of patterns available for free download: everything from fabric to wood, cardboard to brushed aluminum.