The Right Tools for the Job....

As many of you have probably already experienced, the current economic crisis has put a damper on a lot of our budgets. If your agency as like many who contract out the work for poster design and other art work, then you need to re-think you current situation.

So what I suggest is something that does take a limited amount of money, a lot of time, but is a cheap and effective way to create your own art.
(1) For starters, find that officer or civilian within your department who is young, into computers and possibly into graphic art design (seems to be the current trend anyway!).
(2) Purchase the "full" version of Adobe Photoshop (you can get Photoshop Elements but I would suggest forking out the few hundred dollars for the full version if you can).
(3) Get this officer or civilian trainee in Photoshop (it costs in Louisville, KY about $500 for a level 1 class and $700 for a level 2 class in Photoshop).

Now you have all the necessary tools to create your own posters, billboards, etc. Just understand that being able to work such wonders is not as easy as you think. You need to have a creative mind to design these things. Upon completing your first rough draft of a poster, get various opinions, from inside and outside of the department. Learn to take criticism with your art or you will never learn to how improve.

Lastly, I would suggest buying a huge printer (the largest one your agency will let you buy) so that you can create these beautiful posters and such for framing/display, etc).