more variations on the word "balance"

I felt concerned about the readability of my other design so I decided to experiment with some type in a similar piled up compostiion to see if it had the same impact with better readbility.

I felt the first example didnt work so well because it needed some affect of leaning. I like the visual impact of the contrast between slanted and upright letterforms, however I think that the two different directions of slant don't work so well.

Here I have experimented with the basic outline of the letters once piled up in the card pile illustration. I think that it works as an interesting abstract image, however I think that the legibility is poorer than the card stack. 

I'm really stuck on choices with this one, I think I might try get some peer feedback and then  decide on one.