Brand logos:
A logo makes a statement. Your brand wants to say something about itself immediately, before any words are read, and your logo will do just that.
Penguicon needed an irreverent update on their traditional logo (a penguin wearing a star trek shirt) that still says both "linux" and "science fiction". We agreed upon a penguin on a rocket ship, which worked with a hexagonal outline and a starscape in the background. It was printed on flyers, banners, shirts and hats, and was very popular.
A few years later, I had the opportunity to design an updated version - it was intended to be more modern and to be easier to make out from a distance or in smaller graphics. With a less 'silly' penguin and a sharper rocket ship, we were off to the stars.
These logos were used everywhere, from the web site to promotional cards that were handed out at every social event and meeting that year.
Event Logos:
Every year the regional Burning Man event Lakes of Fire creates a new version of their logo - a tradition I started with my Communications team in 2014, based on the theme of the year.
In 2015, the theme was Fabulous Contraption, and so we turned the logo into a crazy moving machine meant to evoke both the game Contraption and a wild machine floating upon a lake of fire.
The blueprint sketch style was very well received, with many people making silk-screen shirt prints based on the design.
Department Logos:
One of Lakes of Fire's dozen departments is the Info_bot team. They're responsible for all internal and external communications throughout the year, and their style is very irreverent, with a lot of optimism thrown in as well.
We decided, when the time came to create logos for our lanyard identification, to make one that looks similar to Rosie from the Jetson's if she were vomiting a rainbow of information. It seemed perfect for our team, and gave the department a hilarious update.
Iconoclastic attendees seeing the logo understood that we did not take ourselves too seriously, which in turn helped them identify with us, and played a role in preventing the fighting between staff and attendees that was present on our social media before the cycle in which my co-lead and I got involved.