Use a similar startup.m script below to set figure defaults. This ensures that axis labels are appropriately sized.

Run this command to open the startup file

edit(fullfile(userpath,'startup.m'))
 

% Example startup file 
 
% This adds all paths recursively from the directory
addpath(genpath('~/myfunctions'));
% This adds a single path
addpath ~/mysinglepath/
 
% Set figure default to something more pragmatic
 
colordef white
set(0, 'Units', 'pixels');
 
set(0, 'defaultaxesfontsize', 18, 'defaultaxeslinewidth', 1, ...
		'defaultlinelinewidth', 1, 'defaultpatchlinewidth', .7, ...
		'defaultAxesFontSize', 18);
 
 
set(0,'DefaultFigureColor','w', ...
		'DefaultAxesColor','w',...
		'DefaultAxesXColor','k',...
		'DefaultAxesYColor','k',...
		'DefaultAxesZColor','k',...
		'DefaultTextColor','k',...
		'DefaultLineColor','k');
 
clear
close all
 
% Add the starting path
cd ~/mystartingpath/