Sandwich panels have been developed to either produce lighter structures capable of carrying prescribed loads or to increase the load-carrying capacity subject to limitations on the weight. The major load-carrying elements of a sandwich structure are its facings, while the core primarily serves to resist transverse shear loads, enhance local strength and stability of the facings, and combine two facings into a single structural system. The facings being subject to in-plane tensile/compressive loads and to in-plane shear, their strength and stiffness are paramount to the sandwich structure. In this article we elucidate potential advantages of so-called “stepped” facings with geometry modified to locally enhance the strength and stiffness at strategically important locations with a minimum effect on the weight. Numerous examples presented in the article validate our suggestion that a combination of a relatively simple manufacturing process and improved structural response of sandwich panels with stepped facings may present a designer with an attractive alternative to conventional sandwich structures.