"ICON" was a joint vision birthed out of a Brotherhood between, Gerson Augustine, Lonny Bradley, and Zakee 'Z. F.' Taylor while they were sophomores at Cazenovia College (NY) during a time when inner-city graduates from the tristate area (NY/NJ/PA) were offered a unique opportunity to attend a prestigious private college notably close to Syracuse University's campus.

In the summer of 1995, the three Brothers forged a bond from day-1 at Student Orientation.  As they stood on the hot asphalt of Cazenovia's tennis courts, the strangers made a commitment to stick together and stand by each other's side through the journey of their college career and life beyond.

The young men often dreamed about life beyond school and their current real-life situations. Thoughts & conversations about, "When we make it, we will..." quickly became a daily topic until the Brothers devised a plan to execute every idea and start the process in making their dreams manifest.

Using a sketch pad journal, the Brothers drafted outlines, plans, and images of business ideas, branding, concepts, and future projections.  Within 30 days of their 2nd year in college, the 1st organizational charter was drafted and presented to the Student Government Board, which was approved by unanimous vote to sanctioned as an official student lead organization: "ICON" - Pooling together talents and creating events that inspire, motivate, education, and  encourage the student body and campus on a whole.

ICON produced poetry slams, Black History Month celebrations, talent shows, soul-food dinners, stage productions, and visual art exhibitions from inception (1996) until 2 of the founding members either graduated with their Associates degree or transferred to another university in 1998.  ICON remained in the planning/restructuring & research phase for the next year and was rebirthed as "EYE-KON" in 1999.