The BBC’s Malaga-based illustrators

A robotic hand holds a translucent, almost ethereal disc. This striking image accompanies a BBC report on art in the age of Artificial Intelligence, posing the question: "The end of creativity or the beginning of a new movement?" The article, published by BBC Features, the BBC's online platform for culture, technology, travel and business, reaches audiences across the entire English-speaking world. Yet the illustration was thought up, designed and drawn in Malaga, at Estudio Santa Rita.

A few days later, another article reflects on the origins of the internet, featuring a conversation with two scientists who created it. One of the accompanying illustrations shows two figures sitting at old computers, passing the letters "L" and "O" (the first characters sent online) between them. This artwork also carries the unmistakable mark of a Malaga-based artist, Emmanuel Lafont.

Palo Graglia and Nuel Salinas, founders of Estudio Santa Rita, along with Emmanuel Lafont, have been part of the team of illustrators for BBC Features for several years. Their work provides a "great showcase" to a wide global audience and attracts new clients from all over the world.

Their commissions are linked by another Malaga-born artist with connections to London: Javier Hirschfeld, an artist, curator, and now associate creative director at BBC Features in London.

In 2011, after spending a long time in London , he returned to Malaga, where he launched Los Interventores- a project with Alfonso Silva focused on graphic arts and publishing. Their goal was to promote artists through exhibitions, exchanges, collaborative projects and publications.

"Malaga was a hotbed of creativity back then."

It was there that Hirschfeld built a network of contacts, collaborators and friends- many of whom he later turned to as he took on more graphic design responsibilities at the BBC.

"I knew their talent and I knew they could help make our stories more engaging and richer," he explained. Hirschfeld returned to London in 2017, "when that sense of possibility suddenly disappeared and many artists had to leave Malaga."

Javier Hirschfeld praises Emmanuel Lafont for his "unique style" and his ability to build an image from small details.

"His illustrations are full of meaning, with many layers for those who want to spend more time exploring them," he said. Lafont enjoys this process, especially when the topics are scientific.

"They are the best, I find them very interesting - some of the stories are really out there," he laughed. He recalled, for example, the illustration he created for an article on the literature about aliens before the classic image of the bald, big-headed extraterrestrial was invented. He also remembered the one he designed for a report on how animals and plants of the future might evolve based on today's climate conditions, or the one illustrating what a party at Space Station would look like.

Lafonte's job is to use his imagination, to visually recreate what a photograph could never show. "And that's the beauty of it," he stated.

This is why he avoids using Artificial Intelligence. "I tried it once, and when I saw how easy it was to become too reliant on it, I uninstalled it. We're lazy, and when we find shortcuts, we use them," he reflected.

"We're really grateful that the BBC works with us, real people, because they could have just used AI," stated Palo Graglia and Nuel Salinas from Estudio Santa Rita.

Their latest commissions from BBC Features are centred around this very topic. Estudio Santa Rita is illustrating a series of articles that examine the relationship between humans and machines in different aspects of life.

"We find it really interesting to approach AI from the perspective of illustrators, focusing on the pure creativity that comes from a person," they explained.

Graglia and Salinas aim to avoid cliches, so they steer clear of depicting artificial intelligence as a robot or humanoid. Instead, they choose to portray it as something ethereal, connected to another world. They often use vibrant, lively colours, which they described as "very futuristic".

"Each month is a new challenge," they stated with a laugh.

Javier Hirschfeld first met Palo Graglia and Nuel Salinas of Estudio Santa Rita ten years ago when he returned to Malaga with Los Interventores. "We collaborated with them and saw their enthusiasm. They were very young, but serious, very good and very talented. I followed their work, and when a story came to me that needed a particular style, I immediately thought of them."

This relationship has continued ever since. At the BBC, Hirschfeld stated, they are thrilled with the Malaga-based team.

"The deadlines we work with are always very tight, but Lafont and the studio always deliver. They don't just do the bare minimum, they make sure their work is exactly right," he concluded