From Wanderlust to Workshop: The Making of a Maximalist Queen
Merite was founded by Nabila Nasir, after more than 15 years living and working across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the development and humanitarian sector. Returning to Malaysia with a design sensibility shaped by different cultures, cities, and visual traditions, she found it surprisingly difficult to source furniture that reflected her love of bold colour, print, texture, and storytelling.
Faced with 3,800 square feet of her own home to furnish, Nabila began designing custom pieces herself. What began as a personal project soon grew into Merite Design, with Nabila leading the studio’s creative vision, design direction, concepts, styling, and brand identity across furniture, interiors, and objects.
Manje: The Visual Alchemist Behind the Brushstrokes
Shany Ahmed, also known as Manje, is Merite’s visual collaborator – a multidisciplinary visual artist with an academic background in architecture. Her practice spans large-scale murals, illustration, textile and fashion design, graphic design, product design, and children’s books, with work characterised by intricate detail, vibrant colour, and references to nature, culture, and feminine forms.
At Merite, Manje works with Nabila to translate selected creative concepts into illustration and hand-painted artwork, bringing an artist’s hand to the wider visual world shaped under Nabila’s creative direction.