ho out there has ever felt like no matter how much you yell and scream, go against the norm, and make a scene, you just aren€™t being heard? If you aren't raising your hand, you're a damn liar. Whether its adults feeling like the youngsters just aren€™t old enough to say anything important, or a young person€™s peers not paying attention because he or she is not €œcool enough,€ many young people feel like there is no easy way to speak their mind and actually be heard by people who sympathize and care.

Well, fear no more; there are people out to change this. Meet the Look-Look Network, the youth-culture company dedicated to getting companies to hear young voices. Comprised of a diverse spread of young people from around the world called €œrespondents,€ the network provides an inside connection to their target audience --- young people. The backbone of the Look-Look is their ability to tap into the knowledge of respondents who are €œdiscovering the world for the first time.€

Initially clients can choose what form they would like their research in -- surveys, field reports, photo research, man-on-the-mall reports, focus groups, etc. From there, the Look-Look Network puts together trend presentations, brainstorming sessions, speaking engagements, and more through their Marketing Solutions Division. This process leaves clients with a marketing strategy directly from the people they are trying to market to €“- youth. The client list is an impressive one, including several companies making good progress in the sustainability world. Honda, Environmedia, Nordstrom, Nike and The North Face are just a few.

Look-Look Magazine was spawned from this effort, and for young people, the heart of Look-Look is the magazine. It is €œdedicated to building a community of young and powerful voices,€ and getting those voices heard, and those voices are all young, ambitious people. Inside you'll find photos, poems, prose and other art conceived and produced entirely by the young artists. The only guideline for submission is that the artist be an unpaid amateur; this not only keeps the ads to a minimum, but insures that the magazine is 100% authentic and untainted by any outside influence.

Contributors to Look-Look are 20,000 plus people ranging in age from 14-30 who are passionate about their art. They aren€™t paid for their efforts, but they are given the printed recognition they deserve, and that€™s what makes Look-Look so cool. You won€™t find any Martha-Stewartesque tips for re-tiling a pool or decorating a bathroom; what you will find is progressive, edgy material from people who are living their art. It€™s a voice for young people who would otherwise have no outlet, and it€™s this old-school cred that makes it so real and so viable for the youth that so many people and groups, from other mass media sources like TV and radio, to other artists looking to share their vision and benefit from the collaborative process, struggle to reach. Look-Look is that young, hungry, local band that you saw for the first time at the dive bar down the street; you knew they were headed for greatness, and you can always say that you knew them when.

Initially, Look-Look was to be a magazine for by young people for young people. Any profits earned would go to existing charities supporting youth art. The founders soon realized that this would not be possible because any sponsor of the magazine would want at least some degree of censorship. So, instead of censoring the very work they were trying to get out, the folks at Look-Look formed their own foundation, which distributes profits from the magazine €œto young people to help them get to the next level in their artistic endeavors.€ Now, you can find the magazine, uncensored, at newsstands. Inside you will find content ranging from a young woman€™s story of her six days spent in a psychiatric ward to a photo collage of life around the country and more.

So, whether you are a young person searching to be heard or an individual or

business seeking the wisdom and vision of the youth of the world, check out Look-Look, the magazine and network. You can get more information at look-look.com and look for the third issue of the magazine, on the newsstand in October

Carly West writes from Tacoma, Wash.