The present invention relates to a method of discretization of the continuous current solution of a gradient coil design that allows satisfaction of the target field quality characteristics as well as other characteristics such as minimization of the energy/inductance, minimization of the residual eddy current effect, minimization of the thrust forces on the coil and cold shields, coil resistance thus the power dissipated by the coil, etc. The method of optimized gradient coil design can be applied to the design of axial or transverse gradient coils. The method of this invention includes the steps of defining at least one, and more commonly numerous performance characteristics of the desired gradient coil, concurrently varying discretization parameters to develop numerous possible hypothetical gradient coil designs, evaluating the designs to determine whether the defined performance characteristics are met by each design and selecting one design.