Although I am an experienced designer, there is something I always struggle with and I feel it is something that subconsciously makes me hate working with or creating vector art and graphics. I struggle with gradients and the way they work or the way I think they work. Maybe I don't understand Illustrator but that's how I go about it.

The real QUESTION: Is there a better way to create gradients? I usually make some logo and I avoid gradients in logos, so I never researched if there is a better way to color these gradients. I feel there is and I need your help because what I do is confusing me.