Chevrolet is America’s brand, having been around for over 100 years now, but the Detroit giant isn’t just about innovation and evolution here in the US. The automotive manufacturer also has a stake in markets all over the world, with some of the latest brand ideas coming from Europe and the Young Creative Chevrolet competition. Unfortunately this Chevy brand competition is only available for young European arts students, but their creative minds are helping Chevrolet advance in many ways world wide.

The Young Creative Chevrolet (YCC) competition is headed by Chevrolet Europe and challenges young applied arts students to come up with unique and creative ways to convey the ideas and values of the Chevy brand through the disciplines of photography, visual arts, video and fashion. Participants can either submit their work individually or as a group.

Each year, the YCC competition lays out a theme in which submissions must follow. A variety of interpretations of the theme are welcome, with the goal being to creative a unique way of displaying what the Chevy brand is all about. For 2012, the theme is “Make It Happen.”

After participants submit their work, a jury of senior Chevrolet employees and leaders in the arts and entertainment industries judge each project. The top three winners in each discipline from each participating European country are awarded with monetary prizes with the first-place winners moving on to the pan-European competition level.

At the continent-wide competition, first-place winners in every discipline are awarded with money and unique behind-the-scenes work experiences in their field of expertise. Students can also apply for internships at GM in Detroit.

2011 YCC Fashion Europe Final winner created by Lubica Mildeová

Last year, Chevrolet Europe received over 550 submissions from 155 schools, spanning 22 different countries in total, and this year they expect even more participants. With a contest based on creativity, supporting young artists and reinforcing the values that Chevrolet is so proud of, we look forward to seeing what the 2012 YCC competition brings.

Be sure to stay tuned as we watch for this year’s jury selection this spring and the overall winners to be chosen this summer.

In the meantime, you can check out last year’s top three submissions in each discipline (with an additional music category), on the YCC website, including the 2011 winning video.

2011 YCC Photography Europe Final third-place winner created by Matija Munjiža Petrović