This article draws on case studies undertaken in doctoral research at AUT University. It seeks to address a number of issues impacting supervisors and graphic design research candidates who employ autobiographic approaches when developing practice-led theses. When employed as a framework, autobiographic inquiries offer a rewarding yet challenging system for connecting investigation with the researcher’s personal experience. This article provides a discussion of the nature, advantages and challenges of autobiographic research in relation to two recent Doctor of Philosophy theses in graphic design. Through this, it seeks to provide a useful reflection on cautions and opportunities inherent in the methodology.