@davidrevoy I think what makes it difficult is the italic, and something I don't think has been mentioned yet: many of the lines that make up letters overextend a lot, like in the middle line in the "A" and "H", which adds noise and makes it harder to read fast. Some of the letters are hard to parse at a smaller res too, like the "W" is especially difficult where it wraps back on itself
3 has more personality but is definitely less readable, and that's my best guess as to why!! It might not be right aha, it's more stylish but just way more noisy and less standard
I'd love the shape-correctness of 1 with a hint of the style in 3 while maintaining a familiar shape ahah