Web Design & Development

The Social Shell

The Social Shell is Prince Edward Island's home for mussels and oysters online, helping seafood lovers buy, cook and celebrate PEI shellfish with confidence. We designed and developed a fresh, food-first website with easy recipes, pro tips, an interactive oyster map and a guide to where to buy.

Lots of people love ordering mussels and oysters when they're dining out, but find the idea of preparing them at home a little intimidating. The Social Shell was created to change that. We built a friendly, approachable website that celebrates more than two centuries of PEI mussel and oyster harvesting, with Mussels 101 and Oysters 101 guides on buying, storing, shucking and debearding, a library of easy recipes, events and a growing directory of places to buy PEI shellfish across Canada and the United States, all wrapped in a bold navy and gold look that is simple for the team to keep up to date.

Every PEI oyster tastes a little different depending on where it's grown, so we built an interactive Oyster Map & Guide. Visitors explore the Island's growing regions, from Cascumpec and Malpeque to Rustico and Murray River, and click any region to slide open a panel with photos and the story of its waters and merroir. Share buttons make the guided map easy to pass along to fellow oyster lovers.

The Where to Buy directory connects seafood lovers with retailers and restaurants serving PEI mussels and oysters. Visitors filter by what they're looking for, by location in Canada or the United States, and by retail or restaurant, and each listing shows what's on offer with a link to the business. A built-in submission form lets merchants and fans suggest new places, so the directory keeps growing.

The recipe library makes cooking shellfish at home feel easy. Recipes can be searched, sorted and filtered by mussels or oysters, and every recipe page includes ratings, featured PEI ingredients, step-by-step directions, a print button and related recipes to try next. Mussels 101 and Oysters 101 pages round it out with practical tips on buying, storing and preparing PEI shellfish.

People often look up a recipe in the kitchen or check where to buy from the grocery store, so the site is designed for phones first. Recipe search and filters, the Where to Buy directory and the Oyster Map all work comfortably on a small screen.