http://designfestival.com/the-cicada-principle-and-why-it-matters-to-web...

A great write up about creating more organic background patterns. Inspired by cicada mating and birth patterns.

On one hand you want to keep the file dimensions as small as possible to take best advantage of the tiling effect. However, when you notice a distinctive feature — for instance, a knot in some woodgrain — repeating at regular intervals, it really breaks the illusion of organic randomness. Maybe we borrow some ideas from cicadas to break that pattern?