[Questions] How did the A symbol come about? Do help! thx

[weix2]

Greetings fellow ayumi fans, just a few questions from me. I'm currently doing a research on Ayumi for my project, hope you guys would aid me! Thank you!

As far as I know, Ayumi is the only artiste that has such a strong icon till the extend that it's like a brand, like Apple or Nike. Most or everybody would be able to recognise the "A" as Ayumi.
Questions...

1) How did Ayumi's "A" symbol come about?

2) When was the symbol first introduced to the people? Was it first introduced as a back cover design for her album, "LoveAppears" ?

3) Is there a rationale behind it or was it just a representation of her name only?

4) Was the main purpose of it to be like of it's current state, to be a strong icon?

Hope you guys would help me out here! Thank you so much!