The design for Ashlee Simpson's 2004 album Autobiography, a mixture of pop and rock music that debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 after its release in July 2004, presents a rock-oriented and somewhat dark image. Photos of Simpson feature on the front and back cover of the album, as well as on the inside front of the liner notes booklet, on the back of the liner notes booklet, and four pictures (and part of a fifth) of her side by side are in the middle of the booklet.
Simpson's photoshoot for the album's cover and liner notes booklet features at the beginning of episode seven of Simpson's reality show, The Ashlee Simpson Show. Many of the pictures, such as the one used for the front cover of the album, show Simpson in a dark setting, with graffiti-style writing scrawled on the wall behind her, and in two of the pictures used for the album, she is laying on a black couch: the one used for the back cover, a fairly close shot of Simpson's face as she is laying on her side, and the one used for the back of the CD booklet, in which she is shown smiling, laying on her back. In other pictures from this photoshoot, the ones found inside the CD booklet, Simpson poses standing with a microphone in front of a white background. The liner notes credit Mark Liddell for the album's photography, Rachel Zoe for styling, Ken Paves for hair, and Karan Mitchell for make-up. Design is credited to Soap Design Co. in Los Angeles, California.
Later on in the reality show, Simpson is shown choosing the pictures from the photoshoot to be used for the album with her mother, Tina. At the end of the liner notes, Simpson writes a long list of thank-yous, including to "all the boys" she's loved—for the inspiration, since her autobiographical lyrics on the album were often based on her relationships.